Behavior of phosphatase isoforms during sclerotium formation in Physarum polycephalum

The behavior of phosphatase isoforms under dark-starvation from plasmodium of Physarum polycephalum were investigated to determine their possible roles in sclerotium formation. Two and a half days after dark-starvation, approximately 95% of plasmodia plates formed sclerotia. Specific phosphatase activity increased markedly up to ca. two-fold within the first day of starvation, after which the enzymatic activity decreased rapidly to a level less than the initial level within 2 days of the starvation period. Among the two isoforms of enzyme detected just before sclerotization under dark-starvation conditions, the enzymatic activity of the major isoform (Rm value of 0.6) decreased gradually within 1.5 days of starvation, then linearly to less than 20% of that at the beginning of the observation. Those of other major isoform (Rm value of 0.7) increased up to ca. two-fold within the first day of starvation, then decreased linearly to levels less than that of the first 2 days of the starvation period. Behavior of this isoform strongly suggests that it initiates the formation of sclerotium under dark-starvation conditions.     

无机盐和碳氦源对青霉PT95类胡萝卜素产率的影响

供试的4种无机盐中,K2HPO4的单因子效应最好;K2HPO4 KCl MgSO4表现出最好的正协同效应。5种碳源都能被PT95菌株利用,麦芽糖和蔗糖是最适碳源。在以酵母膏为氮源的培养基上,PT95菌株的菌核生物量最高;而在以蛋白胨为氮源的培养基上,类胡萝卜素产率最高;铵盐和尿素对菌核形成不利;硝酸钠是最好的无机氮源。培养基中的含氮量保持在0．24～0．48g/L,含碳量保持在5．26～21．05g/L,有利于PT95菌株形成菌核和积累色素;培养基的最适C/N比为25：1。     

Sclerotia formed by citric acid producing strains of Aspergillus niger: Induction and morphological analysis

Some strains of Aspergillus niger have been previously reported to produce sclerotia under certain conditions. Sclerotia are aggregations of hyphae which can act either as survival or as sexual structures in species related to A. niger. In this study, we were able to induce the formation of sclerotia in the progenitor of the industrial citric acid producing strains of A. niger, ATCC 1015, and in pyrG mutants derived from it. Sclerotia can be stably formed by ATCC 1015 on malt extract agar medium supplemented with raisins, showing a spatial differentiation of the fungus dependent on the addition and on the position of the fruits into the medium. On other media, including malt extract agar, pyrG auxotrophs also form abundant sclerotia, while the complementation of this gene reverses this phenotype. Additionally, a macro- and microscopical analysis of the sclerotia is reported. Our results show that the sclerotia formed by A. niger are similar to those formed by other fungi, not only in their morphology but also in their ability to germinate and regenerate the organism.