The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and kinetin (KIN) on Mucor indicus growth, cell wall composition, and ethanol production. A semi-synthetic medium, supplemented with 0-5 mg/L hormones, was used for the cultivations (at 32 °C for 48 h). By addition of 1 mg/L of each hormone, the biomass and ethanol yields were increased and decreased, respe...

Chitin and chitosan are naturally-occurring compounds that have potential in agriculture with regard to controlling plant diseases. These molecules were shown to display toxicity and inhibit fungal growth and development. They were reported to be active against viruses, bacteria and other pests. Fragments from chitin and chitosan are known to have eliciting activities leading to a variety of de...

The nonylphenol (NP) biosorption and desorption potential for fungal biomass used under batch conditions was investigated using kinetics and isotherm models. Fungal biomass of Rhizopus arrhizus TISTR 3610 exhibited preferential uptake of NP, an endocrine disrupting chemicals. Sporangiospores, asexual spores, were immobilised in chitosan beads. The biosorption data of NP on the moist heat inacti...

Natural resources have been traditionally used in agriculture by humans. For example, crab and shrimp shell powder has been applied to control crop disease and improve soil fertility (Ha and Huang, 2007). On the other hand, chitin is an important structural component in fungal cell walls and can be degraded by plant chitinases to eradicate fungal infection (Grover, 2012). Plant cells can recogn...

Filamentous fungi are well known for their capability of producing antibiotic natural products. Recent studies have demonstrated the potential of antimicrobials with vast chemodiversity from marine fungi. Development of such natural products into lead compounds requires sustainable supply. Marine biotechnology can significantly contribute to the production of new antibiotics at various levels o...

Fungal pathogens like Rhizoctonia, Thielaviopsis, and Fusarium thrive in the soils of Arkansas and are a major threat to both emerging seedlings and established crops. For the Arkansas farmer, these and other fungal pathogens usually make fungicide application a necessary part of production. The toxicity, environmental harm, and expense that come with fungicides, though, leave many farmers look...

In the last decade, an increasing number of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), chitin and chitosan applications have been reported. Their commercial demands have been extended to different markets, such as cosmetics, medicine, biotechnology, food and textiles. Marine wastes from fisheries and aquaculture are susceptible sources for polymers but optimized processes for their recovery and production must...

The presence and association of fungi with sessile marine animals such as coral and sponges has been well established, yet information on the extent of diversity of the associated fungi is still in its infancy. Culture - as well as metagenomic - and transcriptomic-based analyses have shown that fungal presence in association with these animals can be dynamic and can include "core" residents as ...

Marine fungi are known to produce structurally unique secondary metabolites, and more than 1000 marine fungal-derived metabolites have already been reported. Despite the absence of marine fungal-derived metabolites in the current clinical pipeline, dozens of them have been classified as potential chemotherapy candidates because of their anticancer activity. Over the last decade, several compreh...

Plants detect potential pathogens by sensing microbe associated molecular patterns via pattern recognition receptors. In the dicot model plant Arabidopsis, the Lysin Motif (LysM) containing Chitin Elicitor Receptor Kinase 1 (CERK1) has been shown to be essential for perception of the fungal cell wall component chitin and for resistance to fungal pathogens. Recent in vitro studies with CERK1 pro...