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Materials (Basel, Switzerland) Jun 2024The present study reports on the preparation of a cellulose fiber (CF) composite from , combined with copper oxide nanoparticles (DL@CF/CuO), to prolong the shelf life...
The present study reports on the preparation of a cellulose fiber (CF) composite from , combined with copper oxide nanoparticles (DL@CF/CuO), to prolong the shelf life of tomatoes after harvest. The isolated cellulose fiber material was comprehensively characterized using XRD, FTIR, and FE-SEM analyses. The DLCF and DL@CF/CuO nanoparticles exhibited crystalline cellulose, as indicated by the XRD investigation. Both DLCF and DL@CF/CuO showed O-H and C-H FTIR spectra with identifiable vibrational peaks. The FE-SEM images depicted the dispersion of DL@CF/CuO-based fibers in a cellulose fiber matrix containing CuO nanoparticles. A 0.3% (wt/wt), a solution of DL@CF/CuO was coated onto the surface of early ripening tomato fruits. After a 25-day storage period at 25-29 °C and 85% RH, the results showed a significant extension in the shelf life of the tomato fruits, in line with changes in physiological properties and fruit quality. The extension of shelf life in tomato fruit epidermis treated with DL@CF/CuO was confirmed through FE-SEM analysis. L929 fibroblast cells were treated with the developed DL@CF/CuO nanocomposite, and no signs of toxicity were detected up to 75 µg/mL. Additionally, the DL@CF/CuO nanocomposite exhibited significant antifungal activity against . In conclusion, this study provides novel insights for sustainable food security and waste control in the agricultural and food industries.
PubMed: 38930193
DOI: 10.3390/ma17122823 -
Journal of Fungi (Basel, Switzerland) Jun 2024is notorious for contaminating food with its secondary metabolite-highly carcinogenic aflatoxins. In this study, we found that exogenous nitric oxide (NO) donor could...
is notorious for contaminating food with its secondary metabolite-highly carcinogenic aflatoxins. In this study, we found that exogenous nitric oxide (NO) donor could influence aflatoxin production in . Flavohemoglobins (FHbs) are vital functional units in maintaining nitric oxide (NO) homeostasis and are crucial for normal cell function. To investigate whether endogenous NO changes affect aflatoxin biosynthesis, two FHbs, FHbA and FHbB, were identified in this study. FHbA was confirmed as the main protein to maintain NO homeostasis, as its absence led to a significant increase in intracellular NO levels and heightened sensitivity to SNP stress. Dramatically, FHbA deletion retarded aflatoxin production. In addition, FHbA played important roles in mycelial growth, conidial germination, and sclerotial development, and response to oxidative stress and high-temperature stress. Although FHbB did not significantly impact the cellular NO level, it was also involved in sclerotial development, aflatoxin synthesis, and stress response. Our findings provide a new perspective for studying the regulatory mechanism of the development and secondary mechanism in .
PubMed: 38921422
DOI: 10.3390/jof10060437 -
Journal of Fungi (Basel, Switzerland) May 2024The efficacy of different echinocandins is assessed by evaluating the in vitro activity of a novel antifungal, rezafungin, against invasive fungal isolates in comparison...
The efficacy of different echinocandins is assessed by evaluating the in vitro activity of a novel antifungal, rezafungin, against invasive fungal isolates in comparison with anidulafungin and caspofungin. Using the broth microdilution (BMD) method, the susceptibility of 1000 clinical isolates (including 400 , 200 , 200 , 150 and 50 ) and 150 isolates (100 and 50 ) from the Eastern China Invasive Fungi Infection Group (ECIFIG) was tested for the antifungals including anidulafungin, rezafungin, caspofungin and fluconazole. The echinocandins showed strong activity against that was maintained against fluconazole-resistant isolates. The GM MIC (geometric mean minimum inhibitory concentration) value of rezafungin was found to be comparable to that of anidulafungin or caspofungin against the five tested common species. exhibited higher resistance rates (about 8.67-40.67% in different antifungals) than the other four species. Through the sequencing of genes, we searched for mutations in echinocandin-resistant isolates and found that all displayed alterations in S654P. The determined MEC (minimal effective concentration) values against and for rezafungin (0.116 μg/mL, 0.110 μg/mL) are comparable to those of caspofungin (0.122 μg/mL, 0.142 μg/mL) but higher than for anidulafungin (0.064 μg/mL, 0.059 μg/mL). Thus, the in vitro activity of rezafungin appears comparable to anidulafungin and caspofungin against most common and species. Rezafungin showed higher susceptibility rates against . Rezafungin indicates its potent activity for potential clinical application.
PubMed: 38921383
DOI: 10.3390/jof10060397 -
Journal of Fungi (Basel, Switzerland) May 2024In this study, bacteria residing in the gut of the rice weevils ( L.) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) feeding on aflatoxin-contaminated corn kernels were isolated and...
In this study, bacteria residing in the gut of the rice weevils ( L.) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) feeding on aflatoxin-contaminated corn kernels were isolated and evaluated for their ability to suppress and to remove/degrade aflatoxin B1 (AFB1). Four morphologically distinct gut-associated bacterial isolates were isolated and identified as (RWGB1), (RWGB2), (RWGB3), and (RWGB4) based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. These bacterial isolates inhibited growth in the dual culture assay and induced morphological deformities in the fungal hyphae, as confirmed by scanning electron microscopy. All four bacterial isolates were capable of removing AFB1 from the nutrient broth medium. In addition, culture supernatants of these bacterial isolates degraded AFB1, and the degradation of toxin molecules was confirmed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. The bacterial isolates, RWGB1, RWGB2, and RWGB4, were capable of producing antifungal volatile organic compounds that inhibited growth. These results suggest that the bacterial isolates from gut have the potential to bind and/or degrade AFB1. Further research on their application in the food and feed industries could enhance the safety of food and feed production.
PubMed: 38921363
DOI: 10.3390/jof10060377 -
Annali Italiani Di Chirurgia 2024Aspergillosis is the most common invasive fungal infection among lung transplant recipients (LTRs). Although its incidence is lower than that of bacterial or viral...
AIM
Aspergillosis is the most common invasive fungal infection among lung transplant recipients (LTRs). Although its incidence is lower than that of bacterial or viral infections, it poses a similar or even higher mortality rate due to challenges in early diagnosis, limited treatment options, and various complications. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the pulmonary aspergillosis cases in our tertiary lung transplant center.
METHODS
A retrospective analysis of 146 LTRs was performed. The demographic data, microbiological and histopathological test results, and radiological findings used for Aspergillus identification were recorded.
RESULTS
Aspergillus spp. was detected in 13 of 146 LTRs (9%), mean age 42.5 ± 14.06 years, an average of 18.9 months after lung transplantation. 3 cases (23%) had Aspergillus growth in tissue culture, and 2 (15.4%) showed fungal elements with septal hyaline fibrils in tissue pathology. Aspergillus spp Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was positive in bronchoalveolar lavage of 8 (61.5%) cases. In addition, 4 (30.7%) cases had relevant tomography findings. The most common pathogens were A. Terreus (21%), A. Fumigatus (14%), and A. Flavus (14%). The mortality rate was 15%.
CONCLUSIONS
LTRs are at high risk of Aspergillus spp infections. Early diagnosis with microbiological, histopathological, and radiological tests, in addition to well-established prevention strategies, prophylaxis, and treatment will provide a better survival rate for patients.
Topics: Humans; Retrospective Studies; Lung Transplantation; Adult; Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis; Tertiary Care Centers; Male; Female; Middle Aged; Postoperative Complications
PubMed: 38918958
DOI: 10.62713/aic.3505 -
ACS Omega Jun 2024is the most significant oilseed nutritious legume crop in agricultural trade across the world. It is recognized as a valued crop for its contributions to nourishing... (Review)
Review
is the most significant oilseed nutritious legume crop in agricultural trade across the world. It is recognized as a valued crop for its contributions to nourishing food, as a cooking oil, and for meeting the protein needs of people who are unable to afford animal protein. Currently, its production, marketability, and consumption are hindered because of species infection that consequently contaminates the kernels with aflatoxins. Regarding health concerns, humans and animals are affected by acute and chronic aflatoxin toxicity and millions of people are at high risk of chronic levels. Most methods used to store peanuts are traditional and serve effectively for short-term storage. Now the question for long-term storage has been raised, and this promptly finds potential approaches to the issue. It is imperative to reduce the aflatoxin levels in peanuts to a permissible level by introducing detoxifying innovations. Most of the detoxification reports mention physical, chemical, and biological techniques. However, many current approaches are impractical because of time consumption, loss of nutritional quality, or weak detoxifying efficiency. Therefore, it is crucial to investigate practical, economical, and green methods to control that address current global food security problems. Herein, a green and economically revolutionary way is a nanotechnology that has demonstrated its potential to connect farmers to markets, elevate international marketability, improve human and animal health conditions, and enhance food quality and safety by the management of fungal diseases. Due to the antimicrobial potential of nanoparticles, they act as nanofungicides and have an incredible role in the control of aflatoxins. Nanoparticles have ultrasmall sizes and therefore penetrate the fungal body and invade the pathogen machinery, leading to fungal cell death by ROS production, mutation in DNA, disruption of organelles, and membrane leakage. This is the first mechanistic overview that unveils a comprehensive insight into aflatoxin contamination in peanuts, its prevalence, health effects, and management in addition to nanotechnological interventions that serve as a triple defense approach to detoxify aflatoxins. The optimum use of nanofungicides ensures food safety and the development of goals, especially "zero hunger".
PubMed: 38911815
DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.4c01316 -
Frontiers in Microbiology 2024Sweating is one of the most important processing methods of Chinese medicinal herbs. However, the high temperature and humidity environment required for sweating Chinese...
Sweating is one of the most important processing methods of Chinese medicinal herbs. However, the high temperature and humidity environment required for sweating Chinese medicinal herbs makes it very easy for fungi to breed, especially toxigenic fungi. The mycotoxins produced by these fungi will then contaminate the Chinese medicinal herbs. In this study, we explored the changes in mycobiota, toxigenic fungi, and mycotoxins with and without sweating in (RD), a typical representative of traditional Chinese medicine that requires processing through sweating. We also isolated and identified the toxigenic fungi from RD, whether they were subjected to sweating treatment or not, and examined their toxigenic genes and ability. The results showed that the detection rate of mycotoxins (aflatoxins, ochratoxins, zearalenone, and T-2 toxin) in RD with sweating was 36%, which was 2.25-fold higher than that in RD without sweating. We also detected T-2 toxin in the RD with sweating, whereas it was not found in the RD without sweating. The sweating process altered the fungal composition and increased the abundance of and in RD. and were the most frequently contaminating fungi in the RD. Morphological and molecular identification confirmed the presence of key toxigenic fungal strains in RD samples, including and . These four fungi, respectively, carried , , , and , which were key genes for the biosynthesis of aflatoxins, ochratoxins, zearalenone, and T-2 toxin. The toxigenic ability of these four fungal strains was verified in different matrices. We also found that , , and were isolated in RD both with sweating and without sweating, but their isolation frequency was significantly higher in the RD with sweating than in the RD without sweating. was not isolated from RD without sweating, but it was isolated from RD with sweating. These findings suggest that the sweating process promotes the expansion of toxigenic fungi and increases the risk of combined mycotoxin contamination in RD.
PubMed: 38903800
DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1394774 -
RSC Advances Jun 2024Marine endosymbionts have gained remarkable interest in the last three decades in terms of natural products (NPs) isolated thereof, emphasizing the chemical correlations...
Marine endosymbionts have gained remarkable interest in the last three decades in terms of natural products (NPs) isolated thereof, emphasizing the chemical correlations with those isolated from the host marine organism. The current study aimed to conduct comparative metabolic profiling of the marine red algae , and three fungal endosymbionts isolated from its inner tissues namely, , and . The ethyl acetate (EtOAc) extracts of the host organism as well as the isolated endosymbionts were analyzed using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to high resolution tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS)in both positive and negative ion modes, applying both full scan (FS) and all ion fragmentation (AIF) modes. Extensive interpretation of the LC-MS/MS spectra had led to the identification of 76 metabolites belonging to different phytochemical classes including alkaloids, polyketides, sesquiterpenes, butyrolactones, peptides, fatty acids, isocoumarins, quinones, among others. Metabolites were tentatively identified by comparing the accurate mass and fragmentation pattern with metabolites previously reported in the literature, as well as bioinformatics analysis using GNPS. A relationship between the host and its endophytes (, , and ) was discovered. shares common metabolites with at least one of the three endosymbiotic fungi. Some metabolites have been identified in endophytes and do not exist in their host. Multivariate analysis (MVA) revealed discrimination of from and other associated endophytic fungi ( and ).
PubMed: 38903055
DOI: 10.1039/d4ra01055h -
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) May 2024A Cucurbita phloem exudate lectin (CPL) from summer squash () fruits was isolated and its sugar-binding properties and biological activities were studied. The lectin was...
A Cucurbita phloem exudate lectin (CPL) from summer squash () fruits was isolated and its sugar-binding properties and biological activities were studied. The lectin was purified by affinity chromatography and the hemagglutination assay method was used to determine its pH, heat stability, metal-dependency and sugar specificity. Antimicrobial and anticancer activities were also studied by disc diffusion assays and in vivo and in vitro methods. The molecular weight of CPL was 30 ± 1 KDa and it was stable at different pH (5.0 to 9.0) and temperatures (30 to 60 °C). CPL recovered its hemagglutination activity in the presence of Ca. 4-nitrophenyl-α-D-glucopyranoside, lactose, rhamnose and -acetyl-D-glucosamine strongly inhibited the activity. With an LC value of 265 µg/mL, CPL was moderately toxic and exhibited bacteriostatic, bactericidal and antibiofilm activities against different pathogenic bacteria. It also exhibited marked antifungal activity against and agglutinated spores. In vivo antiproliferative activity against Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) cells in Swiss albino mice was observed when CPL exerted 36.44% and 66.66% growth inhibition at doses of 3.0 mg/kg/day and 6.0 mg/kg/day, respectively. A 12-day treatment by CPL could reverse their RBC and WBC counts as well as restore the hemoglobin percentage to normal levels. The MTT assay of CPL performed against human breast (MCF-7) and lung (A-549) cancer cell lines showed 29.53% and 18.30% of inhibitory activity at concentrations of 128 and 256 µg/mL, respectively.
Topics: Cucurbita; Animals; Plant Lectins; Mice; Humans; Anti-Infective Agents; Antineoplastic Agents; Cell Line, Tumor; Carcinoma, Ehrlich Tumor
PubMed: 38893406
DOI: 10.3390/molecules29112531 -
Microbiology Spectrum Jun 2024During construction work (2017-2019), an increase in infections was noted among pediatric patients, the majority of whom were receiving amphotericin B prophylaxis....
UNLABELLED
During construction work (2017-2019), an increase in infections was noted among pediatric patients, the majority of whom were receiving amphotericin B prophylaxis. Microsatellite genotyping was used to characterize the outbreak. A total of 153 . isolates of clinical and environmental origin were included. Clinical isolates included 140 from 119 patients. Eight patients were outbreak-related patients, whereas 111 were outbreak-unrelated patients from Danish hospitals (1994-2023). We further included four control strains. Nine isolates were from subsequent air sampling in the outbreak ward (2022-2023). Typing followed Rudramurthy et al.(S. M. Rudramurthy, H. A. de Valk, A. Chakrabarti, J. Meis, and C. H. W. Klaassen, PLoS One 6:e16086, 2011, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0016086). Minimum spanning tree (MST) and discriminant analysis of principal components (DAPC) were used for cluster analysis. DAPC analysis placed all 153 isolates in five clusters. Microsatellite marker pattern was clearly distinct for one cluster compared to the others. The same cluster was observed in an MST. This cluster included all outbreak isolates, air-sample isolates, and additional patient isolates from the outbreak hospital, previously undisclosed as outbreak related. The highest air prevalence of was found in two technical risers of the outbreak ward, which were then sealed. Follow-up air samples were negative for . Microsatellite typing defined the outbreak as nosocomial and facilitated the identification of an in-hospital source. Six months of follow-up air sampling was without . Outbreak-related/non-related isolates were easily distinguished with DAPC and MST, as the outbreak clone's distinct marker pattern was delineated in both statistical analyses. Thus, it could be a variant of , with a niche ability to thrive in the outbreak-hospital environment.
IMPORTANCE
can cause severe infections and hospital outbreaks in immunocompromised individuals. Although lack of isogeneity does not preclude an outbreak, our study underlines the value of microsatellite genotyping in the setting of potential outbreaks. Microsatellite genotyping documented an isogenic hospital outbreak with an internal source. This provided the "smoking gun" that prompted the rapid allocation of resources for thorough environmental sampling, the results of which guided immediate and relevant cleaning and source control measures. Consequently, we advise that vulnerable patients should be protected from exposure and that genotyping be included early in potential outbreak investigations. Inspection and sampling are recommended at any site where airborne spores might disperse from. This includes rarely accessed areas where air communication to the hospital ward cannot be disregarded.
PubMed: 38888358
DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.00273-24