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Scientific Reports Jun 2021Mycelia, the vegetative part of fungi, are emerging as the avant-garde generation of natural, sustainable, and biodegradable materials for a wide range of applications....
Mycelia, the vegetative part of fungi, are emerging as the avant-garde generation of natural, sustainable, and biodegradable materials for a wide range of applications. They are constituted of a self-growing and interconnected fibrous network of elongated cells, and their chemical and physical properties can be adjusted depending on the conditions of growth and the substrate they are fed upon. So far, only extracts and derivatives from mycelia have been evaluated and tested for biomedical applications. In this study, the entire fibrous structures of mycelia of the edible fungi Pleurotus ostreatus and Ganoderma lucidum are presented as self-growing bio-composites that mimic the extracellular matrix of human body tissues, ideal as tissue engineering bio-scaffolds. To this purpose, the two mycelial strains are inactivated by autoclaving after growth, and their morphology, cell wall chemical composition, and hydrodynamical and mechanical features are studied. Finally, their biocompatibility and direct interaction with primary human dermal fibroblasts are investigated. The findings demonstrate the potentiality of mycelia as all-natural and low-cost bio-scaffolds, alternative to the tissue engineering systems currently in place.
Topics: Cells, Cultured; Dermis; Fibroblasts; Humans; Hydrodynamics; Mycelium; Pleurotus; Reishi; Tissue Engineering; Tissue Scaffolds
PubMed: 34135362
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-91572-x -
Viruses Jan 2022Recent studies have demonstrated that phages can be co-transported with motile non-host bacteria, thereby enabling their invasion of biofilms and control of biofilm...
Recent studies have demonstrated that phages can be co-transported with motile non-host bacteria, thereby enabling their invasion of biofilms and control of biofilm composition. Here, we developed a novel approach to isolate non-host bacteria able to co-transport phages from soil. It is based on the capability of phage-carrying non-host bacteria to move along mycelia out of soil and form colonies in plaques of their co-transported phages. The approach was tested using two model phages of differing surface hydrophobicity, i.e., hydrophobic virus T4 (T4) and hydrophilic phage HS2 (HS2). The phages were mixed into soil and allowed to be transported by soil bacteria along the mycelia of . Five phage-carrying bacterial species were isolated ( sp., sp., sp., sp., sp.). These bacteria exhibited phage adsorption efficiencies of ≈90-95% for hydrophobic T4 and 30-95% for hydrophilic HS2. The phage adsorption efficiency of sp. was ≈95% for both phages and twofold higher than T4-or HS2-adsorption to their respective hosts, qualifying sp. as a potential super carrier for phages. Our approach offers an effective and target-specific way to identify and isolate phage-carrying bacteria in natural and man-made environments.
Topics: Bacteria; Bacteriophage T4; Bacteriophages; Mycelium; Pythium; Soil Microbiology
PubMed: 35215789
DOI: 10.3390/v14020195 -
Genes Nov 2021Primordium formation is an important stage preceding the growth and development of the fruiting body. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying primordium formation...
Primordium formation is an important stage preceding the growth and development of the fruiting body. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying primordium formation remain unclear. In the present study, comparative transcriptomics was performed between mature mycelia and primordium to analyze the transcriptional properties during primordium formation in . A total of 19,655 differentially expressed genes (10,718 upregulated genes and 8937 downregulated genes) were identified. These differentially expressed genes were involved in cell wall degradation, carbohydrate hydrolysis, light perception, and cAMP signal transduction. These results aid further understanding of the transcriptional changes and the molecular processes underlying primordium formation and differentiation, which may lay the foundation for improving the cultivation and quality control of
Topics: Fruiting Bodies, Fungal; Fungal Proteins; Gene Expression Profiling; Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal; Mycelium; Pleurotus; Transcriptome
PubMed: 34946812
DOI: 10.3390/genes12121863 -
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Jun 2017An efficient synthesis of a series of 4'-oxyalkyl-isocordoin analogues (-) is reported for the first time. Their structures were confirmed by ¹H-NMR, C-NMR, and HRMS....
An efficient synthesis of a series of 4'-oxyalkyl-isocordoin analogues (-) is reported for the first time. Their structures were confirmed by ¹H-NMR, C-NMR, and HRMS. Their anti-oomycete activity was evaluated by mycelium and spores inhibition assay against two selected pathogenic oomycetes strains: and . The entire series of isocordoin derivatives (except compound ) showed high inhibitory activity against these oomycete strains. Among them, compound exhibited strong activity, with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum oomyceticidal concentration (MOC) values of 50 µg/mL and 75 µg/mL, respectively. The results showed that 4'-oxyalkylated analogues of isocordoin could be potential anti-oomycete agents.
Topics: Antifungal Agents; Catechols; Inorganic Chemicals; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Mycelium; Saprolegnia; Spores, Fungal
PubMed: 28604594
DOI: 10.3390/molecules22060968 -
Molecular Medicine Reports Sep 2021) induces sporotrichosis, which has gained attention in recent years due to its worldwide prevalence. The dimorphic switching process is essential for the pathogenesis...
) induces sporotrichosis, which has gained attention in recent years due to its worldwide prevalence. The dimorphic switching process is essential for the pathogenesis of . Previously, overexpression of several signal transduction genes, including SsDRK1 and SsSte20, was observed during the mycelium‑to‑yeast transition; these were necessary for asexual development, yeast‑phase cell formation, cell wall integrity and melanin synthesis. However, the mechanisms of the signaling pathways during dimorphic switching of remain unclear. In the present study, transcriptome sequencing of the 48‑h induced yeast forms and mycelium of was performed. In total, 24,904,510 high‑quality clean reads were obtained from mycelium samples and 22,814,406 from 48‑h induced yeast form samples. Following assembly, 31,779 unigene sequences were obtained with 52.98% GC content (The proportion of guanine G and cytosine C to all bases in nucleic acid). The results demonstrated that 12,217 genes, including genes involved in signal transduction and chitin synthesis, were expressed differentially between the two stages. According to these results, a map of the signaling pathways, including two‑component and heterotrimeric G‑protein signaling systems, Ras and MAPK cascades associated with the dimorphic switch, was drawn. Taken together, the transcriptome data and analysis performed in the present study lay the foundation for further research into the molecular mechanisms controlling the dimorphic switch of and support the development of anti‑ strategies targeting genes associated with signaling pathways.
Topics: Fungal Proteins; Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal; Mycelium; Signal Transduction; Sporothrix; Sporotrichosis; Transcriptome
PubMed: 34278493
DOI: 10.3892/mmr.2021.12285 -
Nature Communications Jun 2017Fungal-bacterial interactions are highly diverse and contribute to many ecosystem processes. Their emergence under common environmental stress scenarios however, remains...
Fungal-bacterial interactions are highly diverse and contribute to many ecosystem processes. Their emergence under common environmental stress scenarios however, remains elusive. Here we use a synthetic microbial ecosystem based on the germination of Bacillus subtilis spores to examine whether fungal and fungal-like (oomycete) mycelia reduce bacterial water and nutrient stress in an otherwise dry and nutrient-poor microhabitat. We find that the presence of mycelia enables the germination and subsequent growth of bacterial spores near the hyphae. Using a combination of time of flight- and nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF- and nanoSIMS) coupled with stable isotope labelling, we link spore germination to hyphal transfer of water, carbon and nitrogen. Our study provides direct experimental evidence for the stimulation of bacterial activity by mycelial supply of scarce resources in dry and nutrient-free environments. We propose that mycelia may stimulate bacterial activity and thus contribute to sustaining ecosystem functioning in stressed habitats.
Topics: Bacillus subtilis; Basidiomycota; Carbon; Ecosystem; Fusarium; Isotopes; Mycelium; Nitrogen; Pythium; Spectrometry, Mass, Secondary Ion; Spores, Bacterial; Water
PubMed: 28589950
DOI: 10.1038/ncomms15472 -
Environmental Microbiology Reports Jun 2024Microorganisms in the rhizosphere, particularly arbuscular mycorrhiza, have a broad symbiotic relationship with their host plants. One of the major fungi isolated from... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study
Microorganisms in the rhizosphere, particularly arbuscular mycorrhiza, have a broad symbiotic relationship with their host plants. One of the major fungi isolated from the rhizosphere of Peucedanum praeruptorum is Penicillium restrictum. The relationship between the metabolites of P. restrictum and the root exudates of P. praeruptorum is being investigated. The accumulation of metabolites in the mycelium and fermentation broth of P. restrictum was analysed over different fermentation periods. Non-targeted metabolomics was used to compare the differences in intracellular and extracellular metabolites over six periods. There were significant differences in the content and types of mycelial metabolites during the incubation. Marmesin, an important intermediate in the biosynthesis of coumarins, was found in the highest amount on the fourth day of incubation. The differential metabolites were screened to obtain 799 intracellular and 468 extracellular differential metabolites. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analysis showed that the highly enriched extracellular metabolic pathways were alanine, aspartate and glutamate metabolism, glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism, and terpenoid backbone biosynthesis. In addition, the enrichment analysis associated with intracellular and extracellular ATP-binding cassette transporter proteins revealed that some ATP-binding cassette transporters may be involved in the transportation of certain amino acids and carbohydrates. Our results provide some theoretical basis for the regulatory mechanisms between the rhizosphere and the host plant and pave the way for the heterologous production of furanocoumarin.
Topics: Rhizosphere; Mycelium; Penicillium; Fermentation; Plant Roots; Metabolome; Metabolomics; Soil Microbiology; Metabolic Networks and Pathways
PubMed: 38844388
DOI: 10.1111/1758-2229.13286 -
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Mar 2017The effect of light on and the underlying mechanism have received a great deal of interest for the industrial application of pigments. In this study, we have examined...
The effect of light on and the underlying mechanism have received a great deal of interest for the industrial application of pigments. In this study, we have examined the effects of blue light on the culture morphology, mycelium growth, pigments, and citrinin yield of in liquid-state and oscillation fermentation, and explored the mechanism at a physiological level. It was found that blue light affected the colony morphology, the composition (chitin content), and permeability of the mycelium cell wall in static liquid culture, which indicates blue light benefits pigments secreting from aerial mycelium to culture medium. In liquid oscillation fermentation, the yields of pigments in fermentation broth (darkness 1741 U/g, blue light 2206 U/g) and mycelium (darkness 2442 U/g, blue light 1900 U/g) cultured under blue light and darkness are different. The total pigments produced per gram of mycelium under blue light was also higher (4663 U/g) than that in darkness (4352 U/g). However, the production of citrinin (88 μg/g) under blue light was evidently lower than that in darkness (150 μg/g). According to the degradation of citrinin caused by blue light and hydrogen peroxide, it can be concluded that blue light could degrade citrinin and inhibit the catalase activity of mycelium, subsequently suppressing the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide, which is the active species that degrades citrinin.
Topics: Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Citrinin; Culture Media; Fermentation; Glucosamine; Hydrogen Peroxide; Light; Monascus; Mycelium; Phenotype; Pigments, Biological
PubMed: 28257052
DOI: 10.3390/molecules22030385 -
Bio Systems May 2021Oyster fungi Pleurotus djamor generate actin potential like spikes of electrical potential. The trains of spikes might manifest propagation of growing mycelium in a...
Oyster fungi Pleurotus djamor generate actin potential like spikes of electrical potential. The trains of spikes might manifest propagation of growing mycelium in a substrate, transportation of nutrients and metabolites and communication processes in the mycelium network. The spiking activity of the mycelium networks is highly variable compared to neural activity and therefore can not be analysed by standard tools from neuroscience. We propose original techniques for detecting and classifying the spiking activity of fungi. Using these techniques, we analyse the information-theoretic complexity of the fungal electrical activity. The results can pave ways for future research on sensorial fusion and decision making of fungi.
Topics: Action Potentials; Mycelium; Pleurotus
PubMed: 33577948
DOI: 10.1016/j.biosystems.2021.104373 -
MBio Jul 2017Among the endemic deep mycoses in Latin America, paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM), caused by thermodimorphic fungi of the genus, is a major cause of morbidity. Disease...
Among the endemic deep mycoses in Latin America, paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM), caused by thermodimorphic fungi of the genus, is a major cause of morbidity. Disease development and its manifestations are associated with both host and fungal factors. Concerning the latter, several recent studies have employed the methodology of gene modulation in using antisense RNA (AsRNA) and -mediated transformation (ATMT) to identify proteins that influence fungus virulence. Our previous observations suggested that paracoccin (PCN), a multidomain fungal protein with both lectin and enzymatic activities, may be a potential virulence factor. To explore this, we used AsRNA and ATMT methodology to obtain three independent PCN-silenced yeast strains (As, As, and As) and characterized them with regard to biology and pathogenicity. As, As, and As showed relative PCN expression levels that were 60%, 40%, and 60% of that of the wild-type (WT) strain, respectively. PCN silencing led to the aggregation of fungal cells, blocked the morphological yeast-to-mycelium transition, and rendered the yeast less resistant to macrophage fungicidal activity. In addition, mice infected with As, As, and As showed a reduction in fungal burden of approximately 96% compared with those inoculated with the WT strain, which displayed a more extensive destruction of lung tissue. Finally, mice infected with the PCN-silenced yeast strains had lower mortality than those infected with the WT strain. These data demonstrate that PCN acts as a contributory virulence factor directly affecting fungal pathogenesis. The nonexistence of efficient genetic transformation systems has hampered studies in the dimorphic fungus , the etiological agent of the most frequent systemic mycosis in Latin America. The recent development of a method for gene expression knockdown by antisense RNA technology, associated with an -mediated transformation system, provides new strategies for studying Through this technology, we generated yeasts that were silenced for paracoccin (PCN), a component that has lectin and enzymatic properties. By comparing the phenotypes of PCN-silenced and wild-type strains of , we identified PCN as a virulence factor whose absence renders the yeasts unable to undergo the transition to mycelium and causes a milder pulmonary disease in mice, with a lower mortality rate. Our report highlights the importance of the technology used for transformation and demonstrates that paracoccin is a virulence factor acting on fungal biology and pathogenesis.
Topics: Animals; Colony Count, Microbial; Disease Models, Animal; Fungal Proteins; Gene Silencing; Lectins; Male; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Mycelium; Paracoccidioides; Paracoccidioidomycosis; Survival Analysis; Virulence; Virulence Factors
PubMed: 28720727
DOI: 10.1128/mBio.00537-17