In China, Monascus spp., a traditional fungus used in fermentation, is used as a natural food additive. Monascus spp. can produce a secondary metabolite, monacolin K namely, which is proven to be a cholesterol-lowering and hypotensive agent. Hence, recently, many researchers have begun focusing on how to increase the production of monacolin K by Monascus purpureus. In the present study, we inve...

Orofacial infections are usually polymicrobial, and it is the microbial interactions of pathogenic species that cause tissue destruction. In this study, the microbial interaction between Streptococcus constellatus and Fusobacterium nucleatum was characterized using a murine orofacial infection model. A mixture of viable S. constellatus and F. nucleatum cells (both 2 x 10(8) CFU/mouse) was injec...

culture filtrates (cf) of two species of the nematophagous fungi, arthrobotrys oligospora and arthrobotrys conoidesat three concentrations (25%, 50% and 100%) of stock, were tested on the mortality of second stage juveniles (j2) and egg hatching rate of meloidogyne incognita and meloidogyne javanica. results showed that the percent juvenile mortality was directly proportional to concentration o...

This work evaluated the in vitro bio-control action of actinomycetes isolated from Egyptian soil against Fasciola gigantica eggs. In this respect, the identified Streptomyces griseolus was the best parasite-control agent which gave the highest mortality percent applying three methods; the first method was the application of the grown bacterial disks with the eggs at zero time on the medium (2% ...

Culture filtrate from Streptococcus uberis was found to activate bovine and equine plasminogen but not that from rabbit, human or porcine plasma. In contrast, streptokinase from a Lancefield group C Streptococcus activated human plasminogen but not that from bovine, porcine and rabbit plasma. Very slight activity was observed against equine plasminogen. Plasmin was detected by hydrolysis of ski...

Peripheral blood leukocytes from guinea pigs infected with Coccidioides immitis 5 weeks previously were lysed significantly when incubated at 37 C for 3.5 hr with a concentrated C. immitis culture filtrate, but not with a concentrated Aspergillus fumigatus or Blastomyces dermatitidis culture filtrate. Mononuclear leukocytes and presumably granulocytes were both lysed. Characterization of the fa...

The mycotoxin patulin (PAT) was purified from Penicillium vulpinum CM1 culture that has been isolated from a soil cultivated with maize. The effect of PAT and of a fungal culture filtrate on the activities of glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and some antioxidant enzymes viz. ascorbate peroxidase (APX), glutathione reductase (GR), dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR) and monodehydroascorbate reducta...