Introduction The complete genome sequence of the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa has been difficult to assemble, because a large amount of AT-rich “genomic dark matter” is lost from traditional shotgun, cosmid, and BAC libraries (1-3). This situation is typical of most repeat-rich eukaryotic genomes. Various novel direct sequencing approaches promise to reduce some of these errors. However...

Fungus-growing termites efficiently decompose plant litter through their symbiotic relationship with basidiomycete fungi of the genus Termitomyces. Here, we investigated phenol-oxidizing enzymes in symbiotic fungi and fungus combs (a substrate used to cultivate symbiotic fungi) from termites belonging to the genera Macrotermes, Odontotermes, and Microtermes in Thailand, because these enzymes ar...

Medicinal mushroom Ganoderma lucidum has been used in East Asia for centuries in order to prevent and treat a variety of diseases such as hepatitis, immunological disorders and cancers. In fact, this fungus contains a vast source of polysaccharides, proteins and secondary metabolites with anti-tumor and immuno-modulatory properties. Up to now, a variety of drug metabolites extracted from G. luc...

Mixtures of mycolytic enzymes from various sources release protoplasts from living fungal tissue under suitable conditions. Such enzyme mixtures obtained from Coprinus comatus (mycolase I), Physarum polycephalum (mycolase II) and Lycoperdon pyriforme (mycolase III) are of low toxicity in mammals when given parenterally and are able to cure experimental systemic fungal infections in mice when ad...

Fungus is one of the causes of chronic rhinosinusitis. If the fungus occupies the sinus but does not invade the sinonasal mucosa, this is called sinus fungus ball. Any association between anatomical variations and fungus ball remains unclear. Sinus fungus ball is defined as non-invasive chronic fungal rhinosinusitis occurring in immunocompetent patients, and the maxillary sinus is the most comm...

In order to know the compatibility of Phyton (a Phytotonic) with routine fungicides like Captan and GLSTIN (Carbendazim), for the preliminary management of Fusarium solani, a causal organism of tuber-rot of safed musli, the present study was carried out. Among the fungicides, though GLSTIN stood superior, its effect was found inferior to that of Phyton alone. However, the combination of Phyton ...

The antioxidant defense system of the medicinal plant Raphanus sativus L. tuber root in terms certain enzymes (ascorbat peroxidase, glutathion reductase, catalase, superoxide dismutase) and lipid peroxidation against gray mold disease caused by Botrytis cinerea fungus on Vicia faba (bean) leaves was analyzed spectrophotometrically. V. plants were grown from seed under controlled conditions. A s...

The paucity of effective antifungals against Aspergillus and increasing resistance, the recognition of the importance of Aspergillus biofilm in several clinical settings, and reports of verapamil-a calcium channel blocker-efficacy against Candida biofilm and hyphal growth, and synergy with an azole antifungal in vitro, led to a study of verapamil ± voriconazole against Aspergillus. Broth macrod...

The root-knot nematode (RKN) is one of the most damaging agricultural pests.Effective biological control is need for controlling this destructive pathogen in organic farming system. During October 2010 to 2011, the nematicidal effects of the Syncephalastrum racemosum fungus and the nematicide, avermectin, alone or combined were tested against the RKN (Meloidogyne incognita) on cucumber under po...