Keratinophilic fungi of poultry farm and feather dumping soil in Tamil Nadu,India

Soils of 10 poultry farms from Namakkal and 12 feather dumping sites from Chennai were studied for the presence of keratinophilic fungi. A total of 34 species belonging to 19 genera and one non-sporulating fungus were recovered. Sixteen species of fungi and one non-sporulating fungi were common to both sites, eight species were specific to Namakkal and nine species were specific to Chennai. Dermatophytes and closely related fungi were represented by six species belonging to five genera. Fungal species commonly found in the soil samples included Chrysosporium keratinophilum (73%), Trichophyton mentagrophytes (68.2%), Microsporum gypseum (64%), Myceliopthora vellerea (32%), Chrysosporium state of Arthroderma tuberculatum (27.3%) and Geomyces pannorum (23%). Non-dermatophyte fungi were represented by 28 species belonging to 14 genera and one non-sporulating fungus.     

Marine mycoflora of south India with special emphasis on lignicolous marine fungi

A study dealing with the marine fungi associated with decaying wood samples in the brackish water mangrove ecosystem and shoreline ecosystem was carried out in south India. A total of 19 marine fungi were isolated from the brackish water mangrove ecosystem. They included 13 Ascomycetes, one Basidiomycete and five Mitosporic fungi. In terms of percent frequency of occurrence, the most frequent species obtained from the brackishwater were the Lignincola longirostris (16.60%) and Savoryella lignicola (12.09%). Nine species were found frequently. Five species were occasionally encoun-tered. Aigialus mangrovei, Aniptodera mangrovei and Halosarpheia marina were the rare species recorded. The average number of isolates per wood sample was 1.53. A total of 27 marine fungi including 15 ascomycetes, one basidiomycete and ten mitosporic fungi were recorded from the shoreline ecosystem. In terms of percent frequency of occurrence, the most frequent species obtained from Kanyakumari were the Arenariomyces trifurcates (13.66%), Corollospora maritima (12.44%), and Cirrenalia pygmea (10.98%). Seven species were found frequently. Fourteen species were occasionally encountered. Three species were found to be rare in occurrence. The average number of isolates per wood sample was 1.21.     

Marine mycoflora of south India with special emphasis on lignicolous marine fungi

A study dealing with the marine fungi associated with decaying wood samples in the brackish water mangrove ecosystem and shoreline ecosystem was carried out in south India. A total of 19 marine fungi were isolated from the brackish water mangrove ecosystem. They included 13 Ascomycetes, one Basidiomycete and five Mitosporic fungi. In terms of percent frequency of occurrence, the most frequent species obtained from the brackishwater were the Lignincola longirostris (16.60%) and Savoryella lignicola (12.09%). Nine species were found frequently. Five species were occasionally encountered. Aigialus mangrovei, Aniptodera mangrovei and Halosarpheia marina were the rare species recorded. The average number of isolates per wood sample was 1.53. A total of 27 marine fungi including 15 ascomycetes, one basidiomycete and ten mitosporic fungi were recorded from the shoreline ecosystem. In terms of percent frequency of occurrence, the most frequent species obtained from Kanyakumari were the Arenariomyces trifurcates (13.66%), Corollospora maritima (12.44%), and Cirrenalia pygmea (10.98%). Seven species were found frequently. Fourteen species were occasionally encountered. Three species were found to be rare in occurrence. The average number of isolates per wood sample was 1.21.     

AM Fungal Diversity in Selected Medicinal Plants of Kanyakumari District,Tamil Nadu,India

The association of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) with three medicinally important plants viz., Eclipta prostrata, Indigofera aspalathoides, I. tinctoria collected from three different localities of Kanyakumari District, South India was examined. The study reports the colonization percentage, diversity and species richness of different AM fungi in the rhizosphere of the three medicinal plants and discusses the impact of soil physicochemical characteristics such as soil texture, pH and available macro- and micro nutrient content on AM fungal communities. A total 21 AM fungal species were identified in field conditions of the three plants from three sites. AM fungal species richness, colorization percentage and Shannon index were found to be high in the two Indigofera sp. growing in the hilly areas of Kanyakumari District and were low in E. prostrata collected from the damp regions in the foothills of the three study sites. Five species registered 100% frequency in all the study sites of the three medicinally important plants with Glomus as the dominant genera. The study states that the mean colonization and diversity patterns were dependant on edaphic factors and type of vegetation.     

Epidemiological survey of rhinosporidiosis in Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu

One hundred and twelve nasal polyps received along with full history from three different hospitals of Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu during the period 1983–1987 were found positive for rhinosporidiosis on histopathological examination. Among the four taluks (countries) the majority of the cases (41.1 per cent) came from Agastheeswaram, followed by Kalkulam (28.6 per cent), Thovalai (17.0 per cent) and Vilavancode (13.3 per cent). The 11–20 years age group found to be highly susceptible (60 per cent). There was no sex prepondence in contracting the disease as the cases were evenly distributed between both sexes. These findings exhibited the endemic nature of the disease in Kanyakumari district.Unreported cases to an extent of 9 to 40 per cent were encountered during the ENT disease diagnostic camps conducted in nine high incidence villages. Further 8 more cases were detected in addition to cases attended in the hospitals and ENT camps when a complete enumeration of cases was undertaken in Pallam village. Thus the actual number of cases found in the district need a stratified random sampling.     

Screening of marine actinomycetes isolated from the Bay of Bengal,India for antimicrobial activity and industrial enzymes

A total of 288 marine samples were collected from different locations of the Bay of Bengal starting from Pulicat lake to Kanyakumari, and 208 isolates of marine actinomycetes were isolated using starch casein agar medium. The growth pattern, mycelial coloration, production of exopolysaccharides and diffusible pigment and abundance of Streptomyces spp. were documented. Among marine actinomycetes, Streptomyces spp. were present in large proportion (88%). Among 208 marine actinomycetes, 111 isolates exhibited antimicrobial activity against human pathogens, and 151 showed antifungal activity against two plant pathogens. Among 208 isolates, 183, 157, 116, 72 and 68 isolates produced lipase, caseinase, gelatinase, cellulase and amylase, respectively. The results of diversity, antimicrobial activity and enzymes production have increased the scope of finding industrially important marine actinomycetes from the Bay of Bengal and these organisms could be vital sources for the discovery of industrially useful molecules/enzymes.     

Secretion of keratinolytic enzymes and keratinolysis by Scopulariopsis brevicaulis and Trichophyton mentagrophytes: regression analysis

A survey on keratinophilic fungi from poultry-farm soils at Namakkal and from feather dumping soils at Chennai, India, revealed the existence of 34 species of fungi. Most of the fungi exhibited variable efficiency in producing extracellular keratinase when grown in plates with chicken feathers as the sole carbon and nitrogen source. The fungi Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus versicolor, Chrysosporium state of Arthroderma tuberculatum, Paecilomyces carneus, Scopulariopsis brevicaulis, Trichoderma viride, and Trichophyton mentagrophytes were efficient candidates to degrade the feathers. However, when cultivating the strains in submerged conditions in a medium containing chicken feathers as the sole nutrients source, Aspergillus glaucus, Chrysosporium keratinophilum, Curvularia lunata, Fusarium solani, and Penicillium citrinum also proved to be potent. Among all species, S. brevicaulis and Trichophyton mentagrophytes produced higher amounts of keratinase in both methods. Conditions for keratinase production were optimized by statistical design and surface plots. The highest keratinase activity was estimated by S. brevicaulis (3.2 KU/mL) and Trichophyton mentagrophytes (2.7 KU/mL) in the culture medium with chicken feathers and shows (79% and 72.2% of degrading ability, respectively).     

A Novel Variant of Narrow-Spectrum Antifungal Bacterial Lipopeptides That Strongly Inhibit <Emphasis Type="Italic">Ganoderma boninense</Emphasis>

Bacterial antifungal cyclic lipopeptides (ACLs) have become a promising alternative to synthetic fungicide to control pathogenic fungi. Bacillus sp. is known to produce three families of ACL, namely iturin, surfactin, and fengycin. In this paper, we characterized the ACLs produced by B. methylotrophicus HC51 (referred as HC51) mainly regarding its composition and effectivity against fungal plant pathogen. HC51 culture was tested against various pathogenic fungi and the ACLs were extracted and analyzed using liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. HC51 showed strong antifungal activity against the plant pathogens Ganoderma sp. and Fusarium sp. Cell-free methanol extract of HC51 contains iturin A and various variants of fengycin. C16 fengycin A was present in four fractions which indicates it as a major component of ACL from HC51. Five variants of fengycin were detected, four of which had been previously reported. We found a novel C17 fengycin F that is characterized by a substitution of l-ornithine into lysine. Considering that l-ornithine is an important building block of fengycin, this substitution suggests the possibility of an alternative pathway for fengycin biosynthesis.     

Expression and homology modeling of sterol 14alpha-demethylase from Penicillium digitatum

Green mold of citrus, caused by Penicillium digitatum, is the most serious postharvest disease of citrus. Sterol 14alpha-demethylase (CYP51) is one of the key enzymes of sterol biosynthesis in biological kingdoms and is a prime target of antifungal drugs. To exploit novel 14alpha-demethylase inhibitor (DMI) fungicides, DNA and total RNA were isolated from P. digitatum. The CYP51 of P. digitatum was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli, yielding recombinant protein with a molecular weight of c. 59 kDa. The P. digitatum CYP51 protein (PdCYP51) was purified and polyclonal antibodies were prepared. Compared with the sequence of P. digitatum PD5 in GenBank, there were four mutated nucleotides which resulted in four mutated amino acids. The three-dimensional (3D) model of P. digitatum CYP51 was established based on structure template of 1e9x.pdb and diniconazole was docked into the active site by FlexX. According to spectral data, it is suggested that the purified soluble protein had high affinity with diniconazole, a potent inhibitor of CYP51 reaction in fungi. At the same time, these spectral data suggested that the 3D model and the docking model were reasonable, which we hope can be used to provide a virtual screening of novel DMI drugs.     

Soil fungi from orissa (India) IV. Soil fungi of paddy fields

Summary A total number of 165 fungi representing 51 genera have been isolated from 22 soil samples collected at various stages of cultivation and crop growth from paddy fields of Orissa. Many rare fungi as well as two gymnoascomycetous fungi new to science have been isolated. Certain of the fungi were found to be ecologically mature and dominant in the paddy fields and were present during all the stages of cultivation or growth of paddy plants. Not much difference in the species of fungi was observed to exist between Cuttack and Sambalpur plots, between fertile and less fertile plots but a definite difference was found between the fungal flora of dalua and main crop seasons. Among the four media used, rose bengal streptomycin agar was found to be the best isolation medium.     

Pod and Seed Mycoflora on Transgenic and Conventional Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] cultivars in Mississippi

A 2-year (1999-2000) study was conducted at Starkville and Stoneville, MS to determine if the occurrence of the mycoflora varied on Roundup Ready (transgenic) compared to conventional soybean (Glycine max) cultivars. A total of 7,658 fungal isolates were identified from the pod and seed tissues of four cultivars compared at growth stages R6 and R8. Ninety-nine percent of all fungi isolated were mitosporic fungi and ascomycetes. In both years, total fungal isolates from the two locations were greater from the pod (65%) than from seed (33%) tissues. Isolation frequency from conventional cultivars was 54% compared to 46% for the transgenic cultivars. The most common fungi identified that are reported pathogens of soybean included Alternaria, Cercospora, Cladosporium, Diaporthe, Fusarium and Verticillium spp. When main effects and interactions were compared among the frequency data for the fungal genera, significant differences occurred, but consistent trends were not noted. Isolation frequencies of Diaporthe spp. during the R6 growth stage, were significantly greater on the conventional than on the transgenic cultivars in both years of the study, but only at Starkville. Isolation frequencies from samples taken during the R8 growth stage were similar at both locations in 1999 and 2000. Fusarium spp. isolated at R6 and R8 growth stages from pod and seed tissues were significantly greater on conventional than on transgenic cultivars in 2000. Even though frequencies were often significantly different between the transgenic and conventional cultivars, the data was not consistent between locations, pod and seed tissues, or growth stages. The pod and seed mycoflora of transgenic and conventional soybean cultivars was, therefore, similar in Mississippi.     

Distribution and characterisation of entomopathogenic fungi from Korean soils

We investigated the occurrence of entomopathogenic fungi in 1080 soil samples representing multiple locations and conditions in Korea. Entomopathogenic fungi were isolated from soils using a selective medium containing dodine and antibiotics. Following an initial identification based on morphology, the fungal isolates were more precisely identified by the sequence of their nuclear ribosomal RNA (rRNA) internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions. As a result, entomopathogenic fungi were found to occur in 32% (342 isolates) of the soil samples studied. The most abundant species were Beauveria spp. (125 isolates) and Metarhizium spp. (82 isolates). Entomopathogenic fungi were more often recovered from natural mountain and riparian soils than from agricultural habitats. The pathogenicity of isolated fungi was evaluated by using wax moth Galleria mellonella L. (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) larvae. It was determined that 60% (207 isolates) of the isolates were pathogenic using this model. These entomopathogenic fungi may, therefore, have potential use against a variety of agricultural pests. This is the first study of the isolation and distribution of entomopathogenic fungi in representative sampling locations throughout Korea.     

Microorganisms of the Upper Atmosphere: IV. Microorganisms of a Land Air Mass as It Traverses an Ocean

The viable micropopulation at three altitudes (152, 1,066, and 1,981 meters) of a land air mass as it traversed an ocean was determined. At the low altitude, a consistent pattern of decrease in numbers of land-originating microorganisms with increasing distance from shore was observed. At the higher altitudes, the observed pattern was one of irregularity. At the lower altitude the percentages of bacteria and fungi were approximately equal near the coast, but as distance from the coast increased, fungi predominated over the bacteria at all sampling locations. The greatest number of different genera of both bacteria and fungi were obtained at or near the coast. Fungi of the genera Alternaria, Hormodendron, Penicillium, and Aspergillus, and bacteria of the genera Micrococcus and Bacterium predominated at all altitudes and locations.     

灵芝(Ganoderma lucidum)漆酶基因的克隆及其序列分析

漆酶(laccase EC1·10·3·2)是一种含Cu的多酚氧化酶,自从1883年日本学者吉田首次从漆树汁液中发现以来,漆酶特别是真菌漆酶一直是生物学、化学和环境科学等领域十分活跃的研究热点,在纸浆的生物漂白[1,2],有毒污染物的降解[3~5]等方面有较大的应用价值.根据其来源主要分为漆树漆酶和真菌漆酶两大类,由一个结构相似的基因家族所编码,目前,至少有40个以上的真菌漆酶基因被克隆和测序[6~9],最近也有从细菌中克隆到漆酶基因的报道[10~12].我国幅员辽阔,具有十分丰富的真菌资源,但是我国对漆酶的研究与发达国家相比还十分落后,对于漆酶基因资…     

Compatible host/mycorrhizal fungus combinations for micropropagated sea oats

Micropropagation technology promises to improve the supply of sea oats for restoring Florida's eroded beaches, but concerns about genetic diversity need to be addressed. These dune plants are colonized by a wide array of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, yet little is know of the diversity of these fungal communities. Our goal was to test the level of functional diversity that exists among communities of AM fungi that are present in divergent Florida dunes. Community pot cultures were established from samples collected from ten transects in two Gulf coast and two Atlantic coast locations in Florida, and these were used to conduct two greenhouse studies. The objective of the first study was to evaluate within-location variance in the mycorrhizal function of different AM fungal communities associated with endemic sea oats. The objective of the second study was to evaluate among-location responses of plant and fungal ecotypes using selected combinations obtained from the first experiment. Within locations, the AM fungal community had significant impacts on shoot mass and shoot-P contents, confirming a range of symbiotic effectiveness exists within the beach-dune system. Among locations, there was a tendency for greater root colonization between host clones and fungal communities from the same location, indicating a degree of specificity between host ecotypes and their symbiotic fungi. Relative to plant growth response, one fungal community was superior across plant genotypes from all locations, while one plant genotype tended to have the best response across all fungal communities. These data suggest that while it is possible to select effective AM fungal-host combinations for outplanting, origin of host and AM fungi have little predictive value in screening these combinations.     

Prevalence of fungi in carpeted floor environment: Analysis of dust samples from living-rooms,bedrooms, offices and school classrooms

The results of 100 carpet dust analyses from atopic individuals' environment were compared according to the sampling period or the location. Dust samples were collected with a standard domestic vacuum cleaner, in locations with carpeted floor: in residences (living-room and/or bedroom), in school classrooms and in offices. The quantities of fungi vary from 5000 CFU/g to 66 000 000 CFU/g of dust. More than 100 species were isolated by dilution plating. The main species found in carpet dust wereEurotium repens, Penicillium chrysogenum, Alternaria alternata, Aureobasidium pullulans andPhoma herbarum. Strict xerophilic species were rather rare and detected in small quantities. Differences in the distribution of the CFU concentrations were examined for the four different sampling locations and were statistically significant (P=0.0174). In this study, schools were open spaces, and offices, mostly with air conditioning systems, were locations in which air is not confined. This, added to frequent professional carpet cleaning, probably explains the lowest levels of fungal concentration found in these locations. The majority of the homes had the largest fungal concentration in the living-room (median: 2×10⁵ CFU/g) while some bedrooms (median: 7×10⁴ CFU/g) had the highest concentrations. It is suggested that, when fungi are suspected to be the origin of respiratory allergy or irritating symptoms, the mycoflora of the bedroom, principally, should be investigated first.     

哈尔滨市室外空气真菌组成和分布的初步研究

采用曝皿法(孟加拉红培养基)连续12个月对哈尔滨市实验林场、东北林业大学家属区和哈尔滨市二环路、兴路区间3个地点的空气真菌进行取样,初步确定了哈尔滨市室外空气真菌的种类及其动态变化。试验共得到9 908个真菌菌落,经鉴定为22属(或群)49种。试验结果表明:室外空气真菌的优势菌属依次为枝孢属、链格孢、曲霉属、青霉属、附球菌属、木霉属和无孢菌群,分别占总菌落数的21.54%、15.16%1、4.70%、12.20%、11.35%、7.86%和7.80%;室外空气真菌的种类在一天中基本没有变化,但菌落的数量有一定变化,总菌落数从早至晚也逐渐增加;不同季节室外真菌的种类和菌落数有明显变化,秋季最多,冬季最少;不同采样地点的空气真菌的种类变化不大,但菌落数量有差异,菌落数量依次为公路林场家属区。     

Monotropa uniflora plants of eastern Massachusetts form mycorrhizae with a diversity of russulacean fungi

Plant species in the subfamily Monotropoideae are mycoheterotrophs; they obtain fixed carbon from photosynthetic plants via a shared mycorrhizal network. Previous findings show mycoheterotrophic plants exhibit a high level of specificity to their mycorrhizal fungi. In this study we explore the association of mycorrhizal fungi and Monotropa uniflora (Monotropoideae: Ericaceae) in eastern North America. We collected M. uniflora roots and nearby basidiomycete sporocarps from four sites within a 100 km2 area in eastern Massachusetts. We analyzed DNA sequences of the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS) from the fungal nuclear ribosomal gene to assess the genetic diversity of fungi associating with M. uniflora roots. In this analysis we included 20 ITS sequences from Russula sporocarps collected nearby, 44 sequences of Russula or Lactarius species from GenBank and 12 GenBank sequences of fungi isolated from M. uniflora roots in previous studies. We found that all 56 sampled M. uniflora mycorrhizal fungi were members of the Russulaceae, confirming previous research. The analysis showed that most of the diversity of mycorrhizal fungi spreads across the genus Russula. ITS sequences of the mycorrhizal fungi consisted of 20 different phylotypes: 18 of the genus Russula and two of Lactarius, based on GenBank searches. Of the sampled plants, 57% associated with only three of the 20 mycorrhizal fungi detected in roots, and of the 25 sporocarp phylotypes collected three, were associated with M. uniflora. Furthermore the results indicate that the number of different fungal phylotypes associating with M. uniflora of eastern North America is higher than that of western North America but patterns of fungal species abundance might be similar between mycorrhizae from the two locations.     

Introduced and indigenous fungi of the Ross Island historic huts and pristine areas of Antarctica

This review summarizes research concerning Antarctic fungi at the century-old historic huts of the Heroic Period of exploration in the Ross Dependency 1898?C1917 and fungi in pristine terrestrial locations. The motivation of the research was initially to identify potential fungal causes of degradation of the historic huts and artifacts. The research was extended to study fungal presence at pristine sites for comparison purposes and to consider the role of fungi in the respective ecosystems. We employed classical microbiology for isolation of viable organisms, and culture-independent DNA analyses. The research provided baseline data on microbial biodiversity. Principal findings were that there is significant overlap of the yeasts and filamentous fungi isolated from the historic sites, soil, and historic-introduced materials (i.e., wood, foodstuffs) and isolated from environmental samples in pristine locations. Aerial spore monitoring confirmed that winter spore counts were high and, in some cases, similar to those found in summer. Microbial diversity varied between the three Ross Island historic sites, and one historic site showed noticeably higher diversity, which led to the conclusion that this is a variable that should not be generalized. Cultured fungi were cold active, and the broader scientific significance of this finding was that climate change (warming) may not adversely affect these fungal species unless they were out-competed by new arrivals or unfavorable changes in ecosystem domination occur.     

The natural diet of the mud crab Scylla olivacea (Herbst, 1896) in Pichavaram mangroves,India

Food and feeding habits of mud crab Scylla olivacea (Herbst, 1896) in Pichavaram mangroves was investigated quantitatively and qualitatively for a period of two years from June 2010 to May 2012. Gut contents from 1737 specimens comprising 843 males and 894 females in the size range between 45 mm and 148 mm were examined. Crustaceans form the predominant food item in a majority of size groups in terms of percentage wet weight and frequency of occurrence, while molluscs showed a preference in few size groups. The other dietary items includes fishes, detritus, mud and sand and miscellaneous. Gut content analysis revealed no significant variation between the quantities of food consumed by both sexes. Feeding intensity was higher in juveniles and subadults of both sexes than that of adults, revealing a greater preference to feed on fast moving prey such as crustaceans and fishes. The results of the present study indicate that S. olivacea in Pichavaram mangroves exhibited a clear preference for crustaceans.