Larger fungi from Kashmir—IV

The present paper describes six species of agarics occurring in Kashmir Valley—Lentinus lepideus, Lentinus strigosus, Pleurotus platypus, Clitocybe infudibulformis, Conchomyces bursaeformis andLeucopaxillus albissumus. Three species—L. lepideus, C. infundibuliformis andC. bursaeformis, are reported for the first time from India.     

Endophytic fungi—The treasure chest of antibacterial substances

Over more than 20 years, the endophytic fungi have been explored as “biofactories” of novel bioactive substances, and they have not disappointed. Among the extracts and pure substances obtained from the culture broths or fungal biomass, some have exerted antibacterial activity ranging from moderate to powerful when tested on the bacterial strains resistant to the antibiotics currently in use. In this article we review the accumulated data on endophytic fungi isolated from plants that produce metabolites with antibacterial activity against human pathogenic bacteria.     

Newly reported fungi from Orissa (India) — I

Summary Two species of fungi,Tryblidiella rufula (Spreng.)Sacc. andTrabutia butleri Theiss &Syd. have been figured and described for the first time from Orissa. The former was found growing on dead twigs ofCitrus aurantifolia (Christm.)Swingle and onCitrus sp. and the latter on living leaves ofFicus religiosa L.     

Heterokaryon incompatibility in fungi—more than just another way to die

In filamentous fungi heterokaryon (vegetative) compatibility is regulated by a number of different loci. Vegetative incompatibility is most often detected as the inability to form a prototrophic heterokaryon under forcing conditions, or as the formation of a barrage when two incompatible strains interact. Vegetative compatibility has been used as a multilocus phenotype in analysis of fungal populations. In some highly clonal populations the vegetative-compatibility phenotype is correlated with pathogenicity. The molecular basis for vegetative compatibility is not well understood. Fourhet loci have been cloned fromNeurospora crasset orPodospora anserina, inch but no two are alike and it is clear that thehet genes themselves do not encode the gene products that are directly responsible for cell death. We suggest that a broader view of vegetative compatibility would include genes that are responsible for prefusion, fusion, and postfusion activities. Postfusion activities could include the fungal apoptotic apparatus since microscopic observations of cell death resemble those in higher plants and animals.     

Coprophilous streptomycetes and fungi—Food sources for enchytraeid worms (Enchytraeidae)

Food selection experiments demonstrated thatEnchytraeus crypticus (Oligochaeta, Enchytraeidae) was attracted byStreptomyces species and microscopic fungi in vermiculture substrates and in the gut content ofEisenia andrei earthworms. Consumption of spores and/or mycelia of attractive strains influenced markedly the proliferation ofE. crypticus. There was a 74-fold increase in the numbers of enchytraeids fed on the mixture ofAspergillus flavus andVerticillium tenerum mycelia or on mycelium of one strain ofStreptomyces in reproduction tests. Lower rates of increase ofE. crypticus (50-fold or less) were observed in variants whereV. tenerum or mixtures of fungi and streptomycetes were offered as food. We showed a potential importance of microbial populations in vermicultures and indicated that their regulation may provide a way to increase the productivity of such systems.