Soil contamination by used lubricating oil from automobiles is a growing concern in many countries, especially in Asian and African continents. Phytoremediation of this polluted soil with non-edible plant like Jatropha curcas offers an environmental friendly and cost-effective method for remediating the polluted soil. In this study, phytoremediation of soil contaminated with 2.5 and 1% (w/w) wa...

BACKGROUND In southern China, a wild ectomycorrhizal mushroom commonly called "Dahongjun" or "Big Red Mushroom" by the local residents, has been harvested, consumed, and/or exported as an exotic food for many years. Although ecologically and economically important, very little is known about this mushroom, including its diversity and population structure. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS In...

1. Writer G. Hancock follows R. G. Wasson’s researches into the use of a hallucinogenic or, as the newer term is, entheogenic drug from the mushroom amanita muscaria (= fly agaric) and indologists S. Kamrisch and W. Doniger O’ Flaherty (1986): they all think that this mushroom was the soma potion, so amply celebrated in the RV (=Ṛgveda). He then concludes that “an ancient hallucinogenic cult ex...

Two strains of the mushroom Pleurotus, isolated from nature in Vietnam and Japan, contained a similar combination of two distinct rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences. They were perhaps hybrid dikaryons between P. cystidiosus subsp. abalonus and a novel P. cystidiosus subspecies. These mushrooms produce dikaryotic arthroconidia. This unique asexual reproduction might allow stable ma...

Ophiocordyceps sinensis has a long history of use in Tibetan traditional medicine and traditional Chinese medicine as a powerful tonic and aphrodisiac. The species is inextricably linked to the trade of medicinal and aromatic plants in East Asia. Its demand has increased substantially in the international market, and its collection and trade have significantly improved the socioeconomic status ...

Anisaldehyde characterized in the seeds of Pimpinella anisum L. (Umbelliferae), also known as aniseed, was found to inhibit the oxidation of L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA) by mushroom tyrosinase (EC 1.14.18.1) with an ID50 of 43 μg/mL (0.32 mM). The inhibition kinetics analyzed by a Lineweaver-Burk plot established anisaldehyde to be a noncompetitive inhibitor for this oxidation. On the ...

Modes and rates of molecular evolution, and congruence and combinability for phylogenetic reconstruction, of portions of the nuclear large ribosomal subunit (nLSU-rDNA) and mitochondrial small subunit (mtSSU-rDNA) genes were investigated in the mushroom genus Amanita. The AT content was higher in the mtSSU-rDNA than in the nLSU-rDNA. A transition bias in which AT substitutions were as frequent ...