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Biotech (Basel (Switzerland)) May 2024The enzymatic hydrolysis of agricultural residues like wheat bran enables the valorization of otherwise unused carbon sources for biotechnological processes. The...
The enzymatic hydrolysis of agricultural residues like wheat bran enables the valorization of otherwise unused carbon sources for biotechnological processes. The co-culture of and with wheat bran particles as substrate produces an enzyme set consisting of xylanases, amylases, and cellulases that is suitable to degrade lignocellulosic biomass to sugar monomers (D-glucose, D-xylose, and L-arabinose). An integrated one-pot process for enzyme production followed by hydrolysis in stirred tank bioreactors resulted in hydrolysates with overall sugar concentrations of 32.3 g L and 24.4 g L at a 25 L and a 1000 L scale, respectively, within 86 h. Furthermore, the residual solid biomass consisting of fermented wheat bran with protein-rich fungal mycelium displays improved nutritional properties for usage as animal feed due to its increased content of sugars, protein, and fat.
PubMed: 38804297
DOI: 10.3390/biotech13020015 -
Plant Disease May 2024Goji berry (Lycium barbarum) is a plant of the Solanaceae family that is cultivated in the Chinese provinces of Xinjiang, Ningxia, Gansu, and Qinghai, and its fruit is...
Goji berry (Lycium barbarum) is a plant of the Solanaceae family that is cultivated in the Chinese provinces of Xinjiang, Ningxia, Gansu, and Qinghai, and its fruit is used as a traditional Chinese medicine (Yossa Nzeuwa et al. 2019). However, in July 2019, fruit rot was observed at an incidence of 20 to 25% on the Goji berry at the fruit market in Yinchuan, Ningxia, China. The fruit symptoms began as slightly shriveled areas on fruit peel, with noticeable softening of the infested portion of the tissue, followed by rotting and a sour odor of the fruit. To isolate the pathogen, ten symptomatic tissues were randomly collected from different boxes, surface-sterilized for 30 s with 75% ethanol, followed by 0.1% mercuric chloride, then rinsed in sterile distilled water three times and plated onto PDA. The plates were incubated at 25°C in the dark for 7 days. Five purified fungal isolates from different fruit were obtained by the single spore isolation method. Emergent fungal colonies were white with 1 to 3 mm white margins and abundant aerial hyphae. Fungal isolates developed a copious, white aerial mycelium, 1 to 6 mm high, that became dark gray after 4 to 5 days. Conidia were hyaline, unicellular, fusiform, and measured 19.3 to 28.2 μm× 3.8 to 6.4 μm (n=50). All of the morphological characteristics were consistent with Botryosphaeria spp. (Slippers et al. 2004). Five representative isolates, BJN1-BJN5, were selected for molecular identification. The total genomic DNA of the isolated fungi were extracted with a Plant/Fungi DNA Isolation Kit. Translation elongation factor 1-alpha (EF1) gene and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions were amplified with primers EF1-728F/986R (Carbone and Kohn 1999) and ITS1/ITS4, respectively. The sequencing results of the five isolate genes were consistent, and we deposited the results of the EF1 (MK733274) and ITS (MK359291) sequences of BJN1 in the NCBI GeneBank. A BLAST search of the GenBank database indicated that the EF1 and ITS sequences had 100% and 99% similarity respectively to B. dothidea ex-type strain (AY236898 and KF766151). A phylogenetic tree was constructed using maximum parsimony methods by MEGA11, and identified BJN1 isolate as B. dothidea. Pathogenicity tests were performed, inoculating healthy fruit with both mycelial plugs (7 days old) and conidial suspension (1 × 106 conidia/ml), repeated three times. Mycelial plugs of five isolates (BJN1-BJN5) growing on PDA with a colony diameter of 4 mm were placed on the sterilized surface of 20 Goji berry fruit. Sterile PDA plugs were placed on 12 healthy fruit as a control. In a second test, conidial suspensions of five isolates were sprayed on the surface of 20 healthy fruit and sterilized distilled water was used as a control. The inoculated fruits were maintained in an artificial climate chamber at 25°C and 80% to 85% relative humidity with a 12-h photoperiod for 7 days. The development of soft rot was similar to that observed on the original samples, while control fruits remained asymptomatic. The pathogen was reisolated from infected fruit and confirmed as B. dothidea based on morphological characteristics and molecular sequences. To our knowledge, this is the first report of B. dothidea causing postharvest fruit rot of Goji berry, and this pathogen has been reported to cause fruit rot in Kiwifruit (Li et al. 2016) and Yellowhorn (Liu et al. 2018). This study provides information on a new postharvest fruit rot of Goji berry in China that has the potential to cause economic losses.
PubMed: 38803072
DOI: 10.1094/PDIS-01-24-0245-PDN -
Plant Disease May 2024In October 2023, a Connecticut grower contacted The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station about a field of strawberry plants ( × ) (cv. Ruby June) showing...
In October 2023, a Connecticut grower contacted The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station about a field of strawberry plants ( × ) (cv. Ruby June) showing symptoms of severe leaf spotting and visual wilting. Upon visiting the field, leaves had lesions with a diffuse black halo and a light brown center and wilting symptoms, which appeared driven by petiole lesions and presented as dark brown stripes with a reddish-purple halo. Symptoms were observed on 80 to 90% of plants within the block, nearly all of which (>90%) presented with both leaf spots and severe wilting. Diseased tissue was collected from 20 leaves and 25 petioles, sterilized in 0.6% NaOCL, and plated on potato dextrose agar. After hyphal tipping a morphologically identical fungus was isolated from 70% of leaves and 88% of petioles, which formed a dense white mycelial mat with moderate aerial mycelium and conidiomata that exuded dark brown conidial masses. The underside of the mycelial mat was yellowish. Conidia were fusoid, ellipsoid, straight to slightly curved, 4-septate with a single basal appendage and 2-5 apical, matching the description of species within the genus (Maharachchikumbura et al. 2014). The average conidia (n=74) length, not including appendages, was 29.9 ± 2.1 µm and the average width, at the widest point, was 7.5 ± 0.7 µm. Aerial hyphae were collected from two isolates, CT58-1 and CT62-2, and DNA was extracted for further molecular characterization. PCR was performed with primers targeting actin (), β-tubulin (), and ITS prior to amplicon sequencing (Carbone and Kohn 1999; Hassan et al. 2018). Sequences were queried against the NCBI whole genome shotgun database, and aligned sequences from 13 species (including , , and ) were collected for each locus. Sequences were aligned, trimmed, and concatenated using Mega11, and IQ-TREE was employed for model selection (Nguyen et al. 2015; Tamura et al. 2021). A maximum-likelihood tree placed the isolates in a high-confidence cluster with , confirming this placement of these isolates within the genus (CT58-1 Accession #: PP715979-89; PP707735). To confirm pathogenicity, CT58-1 was grown on autoclaved strawberry leaves to induce sporulation, and a suspension of 10 spores/ml was made. Five milliliters of this spore suspension was sprayed on six 6-week-old strawberries (cv. Jewel), and water was sprayed on the same number of control plants. Plants were at 100% humidity for two days and then kept in the greenhouse for 3 weeks to observe symptoms. Inoculated plants presented with identical leaf spot and petiole lesions to field samples and no visual symptoms were observed on control plants. New isolations were made from infected petioles, which produced morphologically identical spores to those described above, and ITS/ loci sequencing yielded sequences identical to those of CT58-1. Spore production and plant inoculations were repeated with this new isolate, and identical symptoms were observed. This is the first report of infecting strawberries in New England and given the high disease incidence in the initial infected field and relative lack of disease in a neighboring field, it is likely that this pathogen was introduced on bare root plants. As the plants were sourced from a nursery in Ontario, Canada, it is likely that the pathogen is capable of overwintering in the Northeastern United States.
PubMed: 38803068
DOI: 10.1094/PDIS-04-24-0893-PDN -
Plant Disease May 2024Rosa roxburghii Tratt is a plant from the Rosaceae family whose fruits are rich in vitamins, dietary fiber, flavonoids, phenolic acids, and other active components...
Rosa roxburghii Tratt is a plant from the Rosaceae family whose fruits are rich in vitamins, dietary fiber, flavonoids, phenolic acids, and other active components (Jiang, et al. 2024). In July 2023, about R. roxburghii 500 plants were investigated in a field of 6000 m2 in Guiding County (107°14'E, 26°45'N), Guizhou province, China, and the results showed a leaf spot incidence of s 20 to 30%. . The affected leaves had irregular, black lesions with a clear blackish brown boundary and faint black conidiomata in a brown center. Fifteen symptomatic leaves were collected from 10 plants washed with sterile distilled water, and 5 × 5 mm pieces of the infected tissues were cut. After surface sterilization for30 s with 75% ethanol, 2 min with 3% NaOCl, three washes in sterilized distilled water, the leaf pieces were dried and placed on potato dextrose agar (PDA) and incubated at 25℃ for 5 days. Three isolates (H3-Y-1-1, H3-Y-1-2, H3-Y-1-3) with identical morphology were obtained, and the isolate H3-Y-1-1was selected for further study. The colonies on PDA exhibited irregular growth patterns, with white felty aerial mycelium on the upper surface, and white mycelium on the lower surface. Conidiomata were irregularly distributed over the agar surface. The isolate H3-Y-1-1 produced darkly pigmented pycnidia on PDA after 30 days and oozed milky mucilaginous drops. The fungus produced two types of conidia, α and β. Regular α conidia were 4.74 - 5.96 × 1.52 - 2.24 μm (n = 50), hyaline, elongated, biguttulate and non-septate. Beta conidia were 20.13 - 25.74 × 0.86 - 1.29 μm (n = 50), aseptate, hyaline, smooth, spindle shaped, slightly curved to bent. The morphological features were consistent with the description of Diaporthe eres (Pereira, et al. 2022). The pathogen was confirmed to be D. eres by amplification and sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS), the partial β-tubulin (TUB), the partial translation elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF) genes using primers ITS1/ITS4, Bt-2a/Bt-2b, EF1-728F/EF1-986R, respectively. Sequences from PCR amplification were deposited in GenBank with accession numbers PP411998 (ITS), PP502153 (TUB), PP502156 (TEF). BLAST searches of the sequences revealed (96%) (500/523nt), 97% (479/494 nt) and 99% (334/338 nt) homology with those of D. eres CBS 138594 from GenBank (OM698848, OM752196 and OM752197), respectively. Phylogenetic analysis using maximum-likelihood and Bayesian methods placed the isolate H3-Y-1-1 in a well-supported cluster with D. eres CBS 101742. The pathogen was thus identified as D. eres based on the morphological characterization and molecular analyses (Feng, et al. 2013; Tao, et al. 2020). To assess its pathogenicity, healthy R. roxburghii potted plants were inoculated with H3-Y-1-1 spore suspensions. Symptomatic leaves mirroring field symptoms were observed after XX days of incubations at XX°C, while control plants exhibited no symptoms. Diaporthe eres was consistently reisolated from the infected leaves showing brown irregular or round lesions at the initial stage of the disease, expanding and become more irregular over time ultimately causing leaf curling and plant death. To our knowledge, this is the first report of leaf spot on R. roxburghii caused by D. eres in China. The disease may become a serious threat to fruit of R. roxburghii production in China. Therefore, detection of this pathogen is very important to ensure timely disease management.
PubMed: 38803066
DOI: 10.1094/PDIS-04-24-0786-PDN -
BMC Plant Biology May 2024Mentha longifolia L. is a perennial plant belonging to the Lamiaceae family that has a wide distribution in the world. M. longifolia has many applications in the food...
BACKGROUND
Mentha longifolia L. is a perennial plant belonging to the Lamiaceae family that has a wide distribution in the world. M. longifolia has many applications in the food and pharmaceutical industries due to its terpenoid and phenolic compounds. The phytochemical profile and biological activity of plants are affected by their genetics and habitat conditions. In the present study, the content, constituents and antifungal activity of the essential oil extracted from 20 accessions of M. longifolia collected from different regions of Iran and Iraq countries were evaluated.
RESULTS
The essential oil content of the accessions varied between 1.54 ± 0.09% (in the Divandarreh accession) to 5.49 ± 0.12% (in the Khabat accession). Twenty-seven compounds were identified in the essential oils of the studied accessions, which accounted for 85.5-99.61% of the essential oil. The type and amount of dominant compounds in the essential oil were different depending on the accession. Cluster analysis of accessions based on essential oil compounds grouped them into three clusters. The first cluster included Baziyan, Boukan, Sarouchavah, Taghtagh, Darbandikhan, Isiveh and Harir. The second cluster included Khabat, Kounamasi, Soni and Mahabad, and other accessions were included in the third cluster. Significant correlations were observed between the essential oil content and components with the climatic and soil conditions of the habitats. The M. longifolia essential oil indicated antifungal activity against Fusarium solani in both methods used. In all studied accessions, the fumigation method compared to the contact method was more able to control mycelia growth. In both methods, the inhibition percentage of essential oil on mycelia growth increased with an increase in essential oil concentration. Significant correlations were found between the essential oil components and the inhibition percentage of mycelium growth.
CONCLUSION
The studied M. longifolia accessions showed significant differences in terms of the essential oil content and components. Differences in phytochemical profile of accessions can be due to their genetic or habitat conditions. The distance of the accessions in the cluster was not in accordance with their geographical distance, which indicates the more important role of genetic factors compared to habitat conditions in separating accessions. The antifungal activity of essential oils was strongly influenced by the essential oil quality and concentration, as well as the application method. Determining and introducing the elite accession in this study can be different depending on the breeder's aims, such as essential oil content, desired chemical composition, or antifungal activity.
Topics: Oils, Volatile; Iran; Antifungal Agents; Mentha; Iraq; Phytochemicals; Plant Oils; Fusarium
PubMed: 38802729
DOI: 10.1186/s12870-024-05135-z -
Nature Communications May 2024Bacterial-fungal interactions influence microbial community performance of most ecosystems and elicit specific microbial behaviours, including stimulating specialised...
Bacterial-fungal interactions influence microbial community performance of most ecosystems and elicit specific microbial behaviours, including stimulating specialised metabolite production. Here, we use a co-culture experimental evolution approach to investigate bacterial adaptation to the presence of a fungus, using a simple model of bacterial-fungal interactions encompassing the bacterium Bacillus subtilis and the fungus Aspergillus niger. We find in one evolving population that B. subtilis was selected for enhanced production of the lipopeptide surfactin and accelerated surface spreading ability, leading to inhibition of fungal expansion and acidification of the environment. These phenotypes were explained by specific mutations in the DegS-DegU two-component system. In the presence of surfactin, fungal hyphae exhibited bulging cells with delocalised secretory vesicles possibly provoking an RlmA-dependent cell wall stress. Thus, our results indicate that the presence of the fungus selects for increased surfactin production, which inhibits fungal growth and facilitates the competitive success of the bacterium.
Topics: Bacillus subtilis; Aspergillus niger; Lipopeptides; Adaptation, Physiological; Peptides, Cyclic; Hyphae; Microbial Interactions; Bacterial Proteins; Coculture Techniques; Mutation; Cell Wall
PubMed: 38802389
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48812-1 -
Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) Apr 2024Due to the increasing populations of anthelmintic-resistant gastrointestinal nematodes and as a consequence of the adverse effects of synthetic drugs, this study focuses...
Due to the increasing populations of anthelmintic-resistant gastrointestinal nematodes and as a consequence of the adverse effects of synthetic drugs, this study focuses on the search for secondary metabolites with nematocidal activity from the edible mushroom using The proton nuclear magnetic resonance (H-NMR) metabolomics. The highest activity was shown by the ethyl acetate fractions of mycelium (EC 290.8 µg/mL) and basidiomes (EC 282.7 µg/mL). Principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical data analysis (HCA) of the H-NMR metabolic profiles data showed that the ethanolic extracts, the ethyl acetate, butanol, and water fractions from mycelium have different metabolic profiles than those from basidiomes, while low polarity (hexane) fractions from both stages of fungal development show similar profiles. Orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) allowed the identification of signals in the H-NMR metabolic profile associated with nematocidal activity. The signals yielded via OPLS-DA and bidimensional NMR analysis allowed the identification of uracil as a component in the ethyl acetate fraction from basidiomes, with an EC of 237.7 µg/mL. The results obtained showed that chemometric analyses of the H-NMR metabolic profiles represent a viable strategy for the identification of bioactive compounds from samples with complex chemical profiles.
PubMed: 38794150
DOI: 10.3390/ph17050580 -
Life (Basel, Switzerland) May 2024is widely planted as a colorful foliage tree, and its leaf can be used as a biomass energy source, but it has been underutilized for a long time. The aim of this study...
is widely planted as a colorful foliage tree, and its leaf can be used as a biomass energy source, but it has been underutilized for a long time. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of garden waste as a substrate component in the cultivation process of the king oyster mushroom (), with the goal of enhancing both the yield of and the efficiency of energy use. The percentages of leaf powder in the substrate were 10.5% and 21% to replace sawdust or sugarcane bagasse in a typical substrate. A substrate formulation that could completely replace sawdust and sugarcane bagasse was selected by analyzing mycelial growth rate, days of production, fruiting body length, biological efficiency, yield, stipe thickness, pileus diameter and laccase activity. The results showed that Y1 (treatment with 21% leaf powder and sugarcane bagasse) had the highest yield (303.1 ± 31.9 g), which was higher than that of CK (control) (259.3 ± 37.4 g). The crude fiber content of the samples grown on substrate Y1 (as 7.43%) was higher than CK (7.37%). In addition, grown on substrate Y1 had the highest laccase activity for the complete colonization of the mycelium. Thus, these findings suggest that leaf powder represents a viable and economical supplement for enhancing both the yield and quality of .
PubMed: 38792659
DOI: 10.3390/life14050639 -
Life (Basel, Switzerland) May 2024The carbon-to-nitrogen (C/N) ratio in the cultivation medium significantly influences the growth rate, vigor of mycelium, yield of fruiting bodies, and their nutritional...
The carbon-to-nitrogen (C/N) ratio in the cultivation medium significantly influences the growth rate, vigor of mycelium, yield of fruiting bodies, and their nutritional composition. Recently, agricultural and forestry wastes have been increasingly used in cultivating . However, systematic research on how these materials affect the nutritional and functional properties of the fruiting bodies is lacking. This study investigated the effects of different C/N ratios on cultivation. We evaluated the agronomic traits, nutritional composition, and flavor compounds of the fruiting bodies. Our findings reveal that an optimal C/N ratio of 27:1 in the composted substrates enhances the total yield of fruiting bodies, with 25.1% soybean straw as the primary raw material. This ratio also significantly increases the levels of crude protein, total amino acids, and essential amino acids in the fruiting bodies ( < 0.05). Fruiting bodies from the high-nitrogen (HN) treatment showed the highest content of umami amino acids and equivalent umami concentration value. Additionally, we employed an untargeted liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS)-based metabolomics approach to analyze the metabolite profiles of fruiting bodies cultivated in high-nitrogen (HN), medium-nitrogen (MN), and low-nitrogen (LN) substrates. We found that the carbon-nitrogen ratio can affect the flavor and quality of fruiting bodies by regulating amino acid biosynthesis and metabolism and other related pathways. Our results suggest that a C/N ratio of 27:1 offers numerous benefits for the cultivation of with comprehensive analyses and has promising application prospects.
PubMed: 38792619
DOI: 10.3390/life14050598 -
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) May 2024Currently, researchers are looking for ways to replace synthetic pesticides with substances of natural origin. Essential oils are produced by plants, among other things,...
Currently, researchers are looking for ways to replace synthetic pesticides with substances of natural origin. Essential oils are produced by plants, among other things, to protect against pathogens, which is why there is interest in their use as fungicides. This experiment assessed the composition of essential oils from a commercial source, their impact on the development of mycelium of pathogens of the genus, and the possibility of using them as a pre-sowing treatment. Grains of winter wheat ( L.) and corn ( L.) were inoculated with a suspension of mycelium and spores of fungi of the genus and then soaked in solutions containing oils of sage ( L.), cypress ( L.), cumin ( L.), and thyme ( L.). The obtained results indicate that thyme essential oil had the strongest effect on limiting the development of pathogens and seedling infection, but at the same time it had an adverse effect on the level of germination and seedling development of the tested plants. The remaining essential oils influenced the mentioned parameters to varying degrees. Selected essential oils can be an alternative to synthetic fungicides, but they must be selected appropriately.
Topics: Fusarium; Oils, Volatile; Zea mays; Triticum; Germination; Plant Diseases; Thymus Plant; Seedlings; Plant Oils
PubMed: 38792237
DOI: 10.3390/molecules29102376