BACKGROUND Endophytic fungi play an important role in balancing the ecosystem and boosting host growth. In the present study, we investigated the endophytic fungal diversity of healthy Panax notoginseng and evaluated its potential antimicrobial activity against five major phytopathogens causing root-rot of P. notoginseng. METHODS A culture-dependent technique, combining morphological and mole...

A total of 2,886 bats captured in the Amazon Basin of Brazil were processed for the isolation of fungi. From the livers, spleens, and lungs of 155 bats (5.4%), 186 fungal isolates of the genera Candida (123 isolates), Trichosporon (26 isolates), Torulopsis (25 isolates), Kluyveromyces (11 isolates), and Geotrichum (1 isolate) were recovered. Seven known pathogenic species were present: Candida ...

Problem statement: Fungal endophytes are widely studied for their potential as biocontrol agents towards fungal pathogens. In vitro assessments usually reveal their antibiosis and mycoparasitism nature, but little is understood regarding their production of volatile metabolites as mechanisms of antagonism. Approach: This study explored the potential of fungal endophytes in controlling the patho...

A single pair of primers, deduced from the intron nucleotide sequence of the Candida albicans CaYST1 gene, was used in PCR analysis performed with both genomic DNA and whole cells of clinical isolates of Candida species and other microorganisms. All the clinical C. albicans isolates generated the expected 310 bp amplicon; other Candida species as well as laboratory strains belonging to other fu...

We investigated the composition and structure of fungal communities associated with leaf litter generated by Clusia nemorosa and Vismia guianensis that belong to phylogenetically-related botanical families and exist together in a remnant of the Atlantic Forest in Bahia, Brazil. Samplings were conducted during wet (June 2011) and dry (January 2013) seasons in Serra da Jibóia. The fungi were isol...

In this study, 1717 fungal clinical isolates causing invasive fungal infections were evaluated against nine antifungal agents using Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) reference broth microdilution methods. The isolates comprised 1487 Candida spp., 109 Aspergillus spp., 86 non-Candida yeasts (including 52 isolates of Cryptococcus neoformans) and 35 rare moulds obtained during 201...

INTRODUCTION This study was conducted to determine the epidemiological pattern and risk factors associated with corneal ulcers in rural areas of western Maharashtra, India, and to identify the bacterial and fungal agents responsible for causing keratitis. METHODS A total of 852 patients with corneal ulceration were included in the study. Sociodemographic data and information pertaining to ris...

Higher plants are ubiquitously colonized with fungal endophytes that often lack readily detectable structures. Current study examines the distribution of endophytic fungal communities within Karanja plants and diversity of novel fungal endophyte Alternaria solani isolates collected from different locations of Sanganer region of Rajasthan. Results confirmed that A. solani is a major fungal endop...

The role of microbial secondary metabolites in the ecology of the organisms that produce them remains poorly understood. Variation in aflatoxin production by Aspergillus flavus is maintained by balancing selection, but the ecological function and impact on fungal fitness of this compound are unknown. We hypothesize that balancing selection for aflatoxin production in A. flavus is driven by inte...

striga hermonthica is a parasitic weed which largely constrains maize and sorghum production in western kenya. the weed mostly invades small scale farms and depending on severity, it may cause damage ranging from 10% to complete crop failure thereby aggravating the food insecurity in that region. this study aimed at evaluating fungal isolates as possible biocontrol agents against the weed. fung...