Mycotic keratitis caused by Curvularia lunata var. aeria

A mycotic keratitis case which was caused by Curvularia lunata var. aeria in a patient with an injury in the eye is described. The diagnosis was based on the mycologic analysis of several samples taken from the ulcer of cornea. In vitro tests of the sensitivity of the isolated species to several antifungal drugs were made. The results were related to the response in vivo to the treatment.     

Survival of Curvularia lunata var. aeria in soil

Spore suspensions from 7 day old cultures of Curvularia lunata (Wakker) Boedijn var. aeria (Batista, Lima and Vasconcelos) M.B. Ellis were added to soil samples originally devoid of Curvularia propagules. The test fungus disappeared after six weeks of inoculation irrespective of soil amendments, like the application of green manure, urea, superphosphate, or soil cropped to Sorghum (dura) or cotton seedlings.     

Transformation of rifamycin B with immobilized rifamycin oxidase of Curvularia lunata

Rifamycin oxidase of Curvularia lunata was immobilized on polyacrylamide gel. The optimum pH and temperature for immobilized enzyme reaction were 6.5 and 50 °C, respectively. Enzyme stability increased on immobilization and the half lives of immobilized enzyme preparations at 30 and 40 °C were 30 and 11.5 d, respectively. With 2.5 mm beads diffusional resistances were observed. Reusability studies showed that 1 mm size beads gave a higher rate of transformation in comparison with 2 or 2.5 mm beads.     

Optimization of culture conditions for the production of rifamycin oxidase by Curvularia lunata

Maximum activity (8.9 IU/ml) of rifamycin oxidase in Curvularia lunata, grown in shake-flask culture at 28°C and pH 6.5, was after 96 h. Nearly all the glucose was used in 72 h. An initial culture pH of 6.5 and 28°C were optimum for the growth and enzyme production. Among various carbon and organic nitrogen sources, carboxymethylcellulose and peptone were the most effective for enzyme yield. The rate of enzyme production was enhanced when yeast extract was also added to the medium. The optimum medium for the production of rifamycin oxidase contained 10 g each of yeast extract, peptone and carboxymethylcellulose/l and 0.04% (NH₄)₂SO₄.The author is with the Biochemical Engineering Research and Process Development Centre, Institute of Microbial Technology, Post Box 1304, Sector 39-A, Chandigarh 160 014, India     

Growth and production of rifamycin oxidase byCurvularia lunata

Curvularia lunata could neither grow nor produce rifamycin oxidase in synthetic media without peptone and yeast extract. Mycelia grown on complex media were tested for the ability to produce rifamycin oxidase in synthetic media. The optimum concentrations of peptone and yeast extract were in the range of 7.5–10 g/L. Five percent inoculum size was found to be optimum for good growth and enzyme production. Addition of metal ions to the cultivation medium increased the enzyme activity.     

Perylenequinones from Curvularia lunata

Three perylenequinones, the methylated 12-epi-stemphytriol (1), dihydroalterperylenol (2), and alterperylenol (3), were isolated from cultures of Curvularia lunata (LBQM-04) on malt extract broth. All these compounds were obtained from this particular fungus for the first time. Structures of compounds were determined based on MS and NMR spectra, as well as by comparison with the literature reports. The isolation of these phytotoxic reduced perylenequinones from the Curvularia genus suggested that they may occur in any anamorphic fungi belonging to the Pleosporaceae family.     

Solid state cultivation of Curvularia lunata for transformation of rifamycin B to S

Biotransformation of rifamycin B to rifamycin S using two strains of C. lunata namely NCIM 716 and NMU grown on various solid substrates viz., grass, paper, jowar/wheat straw, bran and bagasse was studied. Almost complete biotransformation efficiency of rifamycin B at 0. 06 mM concentration was observed within 24 hr. Among these two strains, C. lunata NMU showed 90% of biotransformation and higher rate of cellulose utilization on solid substrates vis-à-vis reference strain. Cellulase activity of both strains was also studied for exoglucanase, endoglucanase and beta-glucosidase. Column bioreactor studies with bagasse revealed further improvement in biotransformation efficiency of C. lunata NMU.     

Microbial transformation of rifamycin B: A new extracellular oxidase fromCurvularia lunata

Summary A highly active extracellular rifamycin oxidase was isolated fromCurvularia lunata var.aeri. The enzyme has a pH optimum of 6.5 and temperature optimum of 50°C.     

Characterization of rifamycin oxidase immobilized on nylon fibers

Summary Rifamycin oxidase, an enzyme used in the biotransformation of rifamycin B to S was immobilized on nylon fibers using glutaraldehyde as the cross linking agent. An activity of 18 U/g of nylon fiber with a binding efficiency of 37% was achieved. The immobilized enzyme showed an operational stability of 7 days and was also protected against thermal inactivation. It exhibited a K_m(app.) of 2.0mM.     

Isolation and Characterization of the PKAr Gene From a Plant Pathogen,Curvularia lunata

By using EST database from a full-length cDNA library of Curvularia lunata, we have isolated a 2.9 kb cDNA, termed PKAr. An ORF of 1,383 bp encoding a polypeptide of 460 amino acids with molecular weight 50.1 kDa, (GeneBank Acc. No. KF675744) was cloned. The deduced amino acid sequence of the PKAr shows 90 and 88 % identity with cAMP-dependent protein kinase A regulatory subunit from Alternaria alternate and Pyrenophora tritici-repentis Pt-1C-BFP, respectively. Database analysis revealed that the deduced amino acid sequence of PKAr shares considerable similarity with that of PKA regulatory subunits in other organisms, particularly in the conserved regions. No introns were identified within the 1,383 bp of ORF compared with PKAr genomic DNA sequence. Southern blot indicated that PKAr existed as a single copy per genome. The mRNA expression level of PKAr in different development stages were demonstrated using real-time quantitative PCR. The results showed that the level of PKAr expression was highest in vegetative growth mycelium, which indicated it might play an important role in the vegetative growth of C. lunata. These results provided a fundamental supporting research on the function of PKAr in plant pathogen, C. lunata.     

Curvularia lunata, a New Source of Cytochalasin B

A biologically active metabolite was found in crude extracts of Curvularia lunata (Wakker) Boedijn (ATCC 34690) isolated from decayed tissues of litchi fruit (Litchi chinensis Sonn.). The fungus was grown on a shredded wheat-yeast extract-sucrose medium, and cultures were extracted with chloroform after 3 weeks of growth at 21°C. Chloroform extracts were toxic to day-old cockerels and caused abnormal distortion of wheat coleoptile segments. The major toxin had a 50% lethal dose of 700 mg/kg (oral dose) and was a colorless crystalline material with a melting point of 218°C. Elemental and high-resolution mass spectral analyses indicated a formula of C₂₉H₃₇NO₅ and a molecular weight of 479.62. The crystalline preparation was identified as 97% cytochalasin B and 3% cytochalasin A. The yield of cytochalasin B from C. lunata cultures grown on 4.5 kg of shredded wheat and 9 liters of yeast extract-sucrose medium was 6.24 g of purified material.     

Biotransformation of squamulosone by Curvularia lunata ATCC 12017

Squamulosone (aromadendr-1(10)-en-9-one), isolated in large quantity from the plant Hyptis verticillata Jacq. (Labiatae), was incubated with the fungus Curvularia lunata ATCC 12017 in two different growth media. Six metabolites were isolated from each medium. with five of the products being common to both fermentations. All seven metabolites are novel. The insecticidal activity of these aromadendranes was evaluated against the sweet potato weevil Cylas formicarius elegantus.     

Biotransformation of cedrol by Curvularia lunata ATCC 12017

Bioconversion of cedrol (1) with the Curvularia lunata was investigated in two different growth media. Five products were obtained in potato dextrose broth, whereas nine compounds were produced in a medium containing beef extract. Only three of the metabolites: 3beta-hydroxycedrol (2), 3alpha-hydroxycedrol (3) and 12-hydroxycedrol (4) were common to both media. They were also obtained as the major products in each case. Three new derivatives have also been identified.     

Tertiary acetates controlling the mycotoxin production of Curvularia lunata

Summary The biosynthesis of radicinin, which is a mycotoxin excreted from Curvularia lunata cultures, was activated by a system that maintains a constant level of acetate in the medium. The system consists of tertiary alkylacetates sparingly soluble in water, and esterases secreted into the medium by the fungus.