Aphid Herbivory Drives Asymmetry in Carbon for Nutrient Exchange between Plants and an Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungus

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Succession of mycorrhizal fungi in stands of Pinus sylvestris in the Netherlands

The mycorrhizal mycoflora was investigated in 35 stands of Pinus sylvestris in three types of young (4-13 yr) and three of old (50-80 yr) stands in the Netherlands, differing in number of rotations and soil type. A plot of 1050 m² (30 m x 35 m) within each stand was searched for carpophores during the autumns of 1986 and 1987. 10 soil samples per plot were taken in October 1987 in order to assess the mycorrhizal status of the tree roots. The composition of mycorrhizal mycoflora in the different plots was subjected to TWINSPAN cluster analysis and Detrended Correspondence Analysis. Plot groupings generated by these analyses largely parallelled the stand types, indicating that each stand type has its own mycoflora. Differences in myco-floristic composition between stand types were parallelled by differences in the composition of green vegetation. The young stand types had 3.5–27 x more carpophores and 1.4–6.8 x more species than two of the old stand types One old stand type was intermediate. Considerable differences in species composition between the young stand types were observed. It is concluded that the succession of mycorrhizal fungi is not primarily influenced by ageing of the trees, but rather by changes in the soil. The results were compared with data on changes in the occurrence of fruiting species of mycorrhizal fungi in the Netherlands during this century. It appeared that species which have declined according to these data were more frequent in the young plots than in the old plots. However, these species are reported to be frequent in old stands of P. sylvestris in Estonia and Finland. It is argued that this difference is related to the high nitrogen deposition in the Netherlands.     

Secondary metabolite as therapeutic agent from endophytic fungi Alternaria longipes strain VITN14G of mangrove plant Avicennia officinalis

Endophytic fungi, especially from mangrove plants, are rich source of secondary metabolites, which plays a major role in various pharmacological actions preferably in cancer and bacterial infections. To perceive its role in antidiabetic activity we isolated and tested the metabolites derived from a novel strain Alternaria longipes strain VITN14G obtained from mangrove plant Avicennia officinalis. The crude extract was analyzed for antidiabetic activity and subjected to column chromatography. The isolated fractions were screened in vitro for α-glucosidase and α-amylase inhibitory activities. The cytotoxicity of the isolated fractions was studied on L929 cell lines. Following which, the screened fraction 2 was allowed for structure elucidation using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, one-dimensional, two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, ultraviolet, and Fourier-transform infrared analysis. The binding energies of the isolated fraction 2 with glycolytic enzymes were calculated by molecular docking studies using AutoDock Vina. The isolated fraction 2 identified as 2,4,6-triphenylaniline, showed no significant difference in α-amylase inhibition rates and a significant difference of 10% in α-glucosidase inhibition rates than that of the standard drug acarbose. Further, the cytotoxicity assay of the isolated fraction 2 resulted in a cell viability of 73.96%. Supportingly, in silico studies showed 2,4,6-triphenylaniline to produce a stronger binding affinity toward the glycolytic enzyme targets. The compound 2,4,6-triphenylaniline isolated from A. longipes strain VITN14G exhibited satisfactory antidiabetic activity for type 2 diabetes in vitro, which will further be confirmed by in vivo studies. Successful outcome of the study will result in a natural substitute for existing synthetic antidiabetic drugs.     

Efficacy of biorational insecticides against chilli thrips,Scirtothrips dorsalis (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), infesting roses under nursery conditions

We evaluated biopesticides based on entomopathogenic fungi, azadirachtin and horticultural oils for the management of the chilli thrips, Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood, an economically significant invasive pest in the United States. Insecticides were applied four times at 7‐ to 10‐day intervals against established S. dorsalis infestations on shrub roses KnockOut^®, Rosa x ‘Radrazz’ under simulated nursery conditions. When applied as stand‐alone treatments, Beauveria bassiana GHA (BotaniGard^® ES), Metarhizium brunneum F52 (Met‐52 EC), a horticultural oil (SuffOil‐X^®) and azadirachtin (Molt‐X^®) at label rates provided significant control, reducing populations of S. dorsalis by 48–71% compared with control over 4–6 weeks. Similar results were observed when the biopesticides were applied in rotation with each other. A conventional standard, spinosad (Conserve^® SC), was consistently the most effective treatment in these studies, reducing thrips populations by >95% overall. In another study, more effective control (87%–92%) was achieved in biopesticide rotation programmes that included spinosad, when compared with those that did not. Results also showed that these biopesticides can be tank‐mixed. However, there was no evidence that B. bassiana or M. brunneum combined with azadirachtin resulted in additive or synergistic control, as neither tank‐mix treatment improved control compared with azadirachtin alone. These findings highlight the potential use of biopesticides in rotation programmes with conventional insecticides to manage S. dorsalis on roses. Biopesticides evaluated in this study can be incorporated into an IPM programme for roses.     

Domestication of the Emblematic White Cheese-Making Fungus Penicillium camemberti and Its Diversification into Two Varieties

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Biosynthesis of pectinlyases in Penicillium adametzii,P. citrinum and P. janthinellum

Pectinlyase complexes of Penicillium adametzii, P. citrinum and P. janthinellum occur as multiple molecular forms distinguished by their biosynthetic control. AMP is involved in derepression of pectinlyase formation.The authors are with the Institute of Microbiology, Belarus Academy of Sciences, Zhodinskaya 2, 220141, Minsk, Republic of Belarus.     

A global view on fungal infections in humans and animals: opportunistic infections and microsporidioses

After cardiovascular diseases, infectious diseases are the second most common cause of death worldwide. Although these infections are caused mainly by viruses or bacteria, a systematically growing prevalence of human and animal opportunistic fungal infections is noticeable worldwide. More attention is being paid to this problem, especially due to the growing frequency of recalcitrant and recurrent mycoses. The latter are classically divided into superficial, which are the most common type, subcutaneous, and systemic. This work discusses opportunistic fungal pathogens without proven horizontal transmission between different animal species including humans and microsporidia as spore-forming unicellular parasites related to fungi; however, with a yet undetermined taxonomic position. The review also mentions aetiological agents, risk factors, epidemiology, geographical distribution, and finally symptoms characteristic for individual disease entities. This paper provides insight into fungal infections from a global perspective and simultaneously draws attention to emerging pathogens, whose prevalence is continuously increasing. Finally, this work also takes into consideration the correct nomenclature of fungal disease entities and the importance of secondary metabolites in the pathogenesis of fungal infections.