In this study, the degradation of metalaxyl was investigated in the presence of two Mucorales strains, previously isolated from soil subjected to repeated treatments with this fungicide and selected after enrichment technique. Fungal strains were characterised by a polyphasic approach using phylogenetic analysis of the Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) gene region, phenotypic characterisation b...

In this paper, thermotolerant fungal strains which can grow on glycerol as the sole carbon source were isolated from soil samples. Morphological and molecular phylogenetic analyses of ten isolated strains showed that all strains belong to Aspergillus fumigatus. Analysis of their cellular fatty acid composition revealed that all the strains accumulated lignoceric acid (C24:0), suggesting that th...

The root and flowers of Butea monosperma (Lam.) were extracted with methanol. Extensive chromatographic separation and purification with the organic solvents was done. Four phytochemicals were separated and their structures were established based on various spectroscopic techniques. Isolated crude extract was subjected for antibacterial activity against gram-negative and gram-positive bacteri...

The research deals with the contamination of feeding crops with fungi, producing mycotoxins and use of selected yeasts for detoxification. The thin-layer chromatography and ELISA methods were applied for the analysis of fungal secondary metabolites. The results showed a high rate of the grain contamination with fungi, mainly from genera Penicillium, Fusarium, Aspergillus and Alternaria. Some of...

The paucity of fungal diseases in mammals relative to insects, amphibians, and plants is puzzling. We analyzed the thermal tolerance of 4802 fungal strains from 144 genera and found that most cannot grow at mammalian temperatures. Fungi from insects and mammals had greater thermal tolerances than did isolates from soils and plants. Every 1 degrees C increase in the 30 degrees C-40 degrees C ran...

Caleosins are a small family of calcium-binding proteins endowed with peroxygenase activity in plants. Caleosin-like genes are present in fungi; however, their functions have not been reported yet. In this work, we identify a plant caleosin-like protein in Aspergillus flavus that is highly expressed during the early stages of spore germination. A recombinant purified 32-kDa caleosin-like protei...

Many organisms produce lactic acid by fermentation, but most industrially important strains are from the genus Lactobacillus and Rhizopus oryzae. L(+)-Lactic acid is the only optical isomer for use in pharmaceutical and food industries because human body is only adapted to assimilate this form. In this research, six strains of Lactobacillus and four strains of R. oryzae (known as high producer)...

The challenges which the large scale microalgal industry is facing are associated with the high cost of key operations such as harvesting, nutrient supply and oil extraction. The high-energy input for harvesting makes current commercial microalgal biodiesel production economically unfeasible and can account for up to 50% of the total cost of biofuel production. Co-cultivation of fungal and micr...

To defend themselves against fungal pathogens, plants produce numerous antifungal proteins and peptides, including defensins, some of which have been proposed to interact with fungal cell surface glycosphingolipid components. Although not known as a phytopathogen, the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa possesses numerous genes similar to those required for plant pathogenesis identified in fun...