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International Journal of Molecular... Dec 2019Depression is a common and severe neuropsychiatric disorder that is one of the leading causes of global disease burden. Although various anti-depressants are currently... (Review)
Review
Depression is a common and severe neuropsychiatric disorder that is one of the leading causes of global disease burden. Although various anti-depressants are currently available, their efficacies are barely adequate and many have side effects. also known as Lion's mane mushroom, has been shown to have various health benefits, including antioxidative, antidiabetic, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antihyperglycemic, and hypolipidemic effects. It has been used to treat cognitive impairment, Parkinson's disease, and Alzheimer's disease. Bioactive compounds extracted from the mycelia and fruiting bodies of have been found to promote the expression of neurotrophic factors that are associated with cell proliferation such as nerve growth factors. Although antidepressant effects of have not been validated and compared to the conventional antidepressants, based on the neurotrophic and neurogenic pathophysiology of depression, may be a potential alternative medicine for the treatment of depression. This article critically reviews the current literature on the potential benefits of as a treatment for depressive disorder as well as its mechanisms underlying the antidepressant-like activities.
Topics: Basidiomycota; Biological Products; Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; Clinical Trials as Topic; Depressive Disorder; Diterpenes; Humans; Indoles; Mycelium; Nerve Growth Factors
PubMed: 31881712
DOI: 10.3390/ijms21010163 -
Behavioural Neurology 2018, an ideal culinary-medicinal mushroom, has become a well-established candidate in promoting positive brain and nerve health-related activities by inducing the nerve... (Review)
Review
, an ideal culinary-medicinal mushroom, has become a well-established candidate in promoting positive brain and nerve health-related activities by inducing the nerve growth factor from its bioactive ingredient. Among its active compounds, only erinacine A has confirmed pharmacological actions in the central nervous system in rats. Hence, this review has summarized the available information on the neurohealth properties of mycelia enriched with erinacines, which may contribute to further research on the therapeutic roles of these mycelia. The safety of this mushroom has also been discussed. Although it has been difficult to extrapolate the studies to clinical situations, preclinical studies have shown that there can be improvements in ischemic stroke, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and depression if mycelia enriched with erinacines are included in daily meals.
Topics: Agaricales; Alzheimer Disease; Animals; Diterpenes; Humans; Mycelium; Neurons; Neuroprotective Agents; Parkinson Disease
PubMed: 29951133
DOI: 10.1155/2018/5802634 -
Scientific Reports Jan 2022Electrical activity of fungus Pleurotus ostreatus is characterised by slow (h) irregular waves of baseline potential drift and fast (min) action potential likes spikes...
Electrical activity of fungus Pleurotus ostreatus is characterised by slow (h) irregular waves of baseline potential drift and fast (min) action potential likes spikes of the electrical potential. An exposure of the myceliated substrate to a chloroform vapour lead to several fold decrease of the baseline potential waves and increase of their duration. The chloroform vapour also causes either complete cessation of spiking activity or substantial reduction of the spiking frequency. Removal of the chloroform vapour from the growth containers leads to a gradual restoration of the mycelium electrical activity.
Topics: Action Potentials; Anesthetics, Inhalation; Chloroform; Mycelium; Pleurotus; Time Factors; Volatilization
PubMed: 35013424
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-04172-0 -
Microbiology Spectrum May 2017The characteristic growth pattern of fungal mycelia as an interconnected network has a major impact on how cellular events operating on a micron scale affect colony... (Review)
Review
The characteristic growth pattern of fungal mycelia as an interconnected network has a major impact on how cellular events operating on a micron scale affect colony behavior at an ecological scale. Network structure is intimately linked to flows of resources across the network that in turn modify the network architecture itself. This complex interplay shapes the incredibly plastic behavior of fungi and allows them to cope with patchy, ephemeral resources, competition, damage, and predation in a manner completely different from multicellular plants or animals. Here, we try to link network structure with impact on resource movement at different scales of organization to understand the benefits and challenges of organisms that grow as connected networks. This inevitably involves an interdisciplinary approach whereby mathematical modeling helps to provide a bridge between information gleaned by traditional cell and molecular techniques or biophysical approaches at a hyphal level, with observations of colony dynamics and behavior at an ecological level.
Topics: Animals; Biological Transport; Biomass; Ecology; Ecosystem; Food; Fungi; Hyphae; Models, Biological; Models, Theoretical; Mycelium; Plants; Soil Microbiology; Water
PubMed: 28524023
DOI: 10.1128/microbiolspec.FUNK-0033-2017 -
Scientific Reports Oct 2017We study a unique biomaterial developed from fungal mycelium, the vegetative part and the root structure of fungi. Mycelium has a filamentous network structure with...
We study a unique biomaterial developed from fungal mycelium, the vegetative part and the root structure of fungi. Mycelium has a filamentous network structure with mechanics largely controlled by filament elasticity and branching, and network density. We report the morphological and mechanical characterization of mycelium through an integrated experimental and computational approach. The monotonic mechanical behavior of the mycelium is non-linear both in tension and compression. The material exhibits considerable strain hardening before rupture under tension, it mimics the open cell foam behavior under compression and exhibits hysteresis and the Mullins effect when subjected to cyclic loading. Based on our morphological characterization and experimental observations, we develop and validate a multiscale fiber network-based model for the mycelium which reproduces the tensile and compressive behavior of the material.
Topics: Biocompatible Materials; Compressive Strength; Mycelium; Stress, Mechanical; Tensile Strength; Viscosity
PubMed: 29026133
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-13295-2 -
Microbiology Spectrum Apr 2017Filamentous fungi are a large and ancient clade of microorganisms that occupy a broad range of ecological niches. The success of filamentous fungi is largely due to... (Review)
Review
Filamentous fungi are a large and ancient clade of microorganisms that occupy a broad range of ecological niches. The success of filamentous fungi is largely due to their elongate hypha, a chain of cells, separated from each other by septa. Hyphae grow by polarized exocytosis at the apex, which allows the fungus to overcome long distances and invade many substrates, including soils and host tissues. Hyphal tip growth is initiated by establishment of a growth site and the subsequent maintenance of the growth axis, with transport of growth supplies, including membranes and proteins, delivered by motors along the cytoskeleton to the hyphal apex. Among the enzymes delivered are cell wall synthases that are exocytosed for local synthesis of the extracellular cell wall. Exocytosis is opposed by endocytic uptake of soluble and membrane-bound material into the cell. The first intracellular compartment in the endocytic pathway is the early endosomes, which emerge to perform essential additional functions as spatial organizers of the hyphal cell. Individual compartments within septated hyphae can communicate with each other via septal pores, which allow passage of cytoplasm or organelles to help differentiation within the mycelium. This article introduces the reader to more detailed aspects of hyphal growth in fungi.
Topics: Fungal Proteins; Fungi; Hyphae
PubMed: 28429675
DOI: 10.1128/microbiolspec.FUNK-0034-2016 -
International Journal of Molecular... Jun 2017Lectins are proteins of a nonimmunoglobulin nature that are capable of specific recognition of and reversible binding to the carbohydrate moieties of complex... (Review)
Review
Lectins are proteins of a nonimmunoglobulin nature that are capable of specific recognition of and reversible binding to the carbohydrate moieties of complex carbohydrates, without altering the covalent structure of any of the recognized glycosyl ligands. They have a broad range of biological activities important for the functioning of the cell and the whole organism and, owing to the high specificity of reversible binding to carbohydrates, are valuable tools used widely in biology and medicine. Lectins can be produced by many living organisms, including basidiomycetes. Whereas lectins from the fruit bodies of basidiomycetes have been studied sufficiently well, mycelial lectins remain relatively unexplored. Here, we review and comparatively analyze what is currently known about lectins isolated from the vegetative mycelium of macrobasidiomycetes, including their localization, properties, and carbohydrate specificities. Particular attention is given to the physiological role of mycelial lectins in fungal growth and development.
Topics: Basidiomycota; Fungal Proteins; Lectins; Mycelium
PubMed: 28640205
DOI: 10.3390/ijms18071334 -
Scientific Reports Sep 2022Living substrates are capable for nontrivial mappings of electrical signals due to the substrate nonlinear electrical characteristics. This property can be used to...
Living substrates are capable for nontrivial mappings of electrical signals due to the substrate nonlinear electrical characteristics. This property can be used to realise Boolean functions. Input logical values are represented by amplitude or frequency of electrical stimuli. Output logical values are decoded from electrical responses of living substrates. We demonstrate how logical circuits can be implemented in mycelium bound composites. The mycelium bound composites (fungal materials) are getting growing recognition as building, packaging, decoration and clothing materials. Presently the fungal materials are passive. To make the fungal materials adaptive, i.e. sensing and computing, we should embed logical circuits into them. We demonstrate experimental laboratory prototypes of many-input Boolean functions implemented in fungal materials from oyster fungi P. ostreatus. We characterise complexity of the functions discovered via complexity of the space-time configurations of one-dimensional cellular automata governed by the functions. We show that the mycelium bound composites can implement representative functions from all classes of cellular automata complexity including the computationally universal. The results presented will make an impact in the field of unconventional computing, experimental demonstration of purposeful computing with fungi, and in the field of intelligent materials, as the prototypes of computing mycelium bound composites.
Topics: Algorithms; Fungi; Mycelium; Smart Materials
PubMed: 36151275
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-20080-3 -
Current Biology : CB Jun 2023For more than 400 million years, mycorrhizal fungi and plants have formed partnerships that are crucial to the emergence and functioning of global ecosystems. The... (Review)
Review
For more than 400 million years, mycorrhizal fungi and plants have formed partnerships that are crucial to the emergence and functioning of global ecosystems. The importance of these symbiotic fungi for plant nutrition is well established. However, the role of mycorrhizal fungi in transporting carbon into soil systems on a global scale remains under-explored. This is surprising given that ∼75% of terrestrial carbon is stored belowground and mycorrhizal fungi are stationed at a key entry point of carbon into soil food webs. Here, we analyze nearly 200 datasets to provide the first global quantitative estimates of carbon allocation from plants to the mycelium of mycorrhizal fungi. We estimate that global plant communities allocate 3.93 Gt COe per year to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, 9.07 Gt COe per year to ectomycorrhizal fungi, and 0.12 Gt COe per year to ericoid mycorrhizal fungi. Based on this estimate, 13.12 Gt of COe fixed by terrestrial plants is, at least temporarily, allocated to the underground mycelium of mycorrhizal fungi per year, equating to ∼36% of current annual CO emissions from fossil fuels. We explore the mechanisms by which mycorrhizal fungi affect soil carbon pools and identify approaches to increase our understanding of global carbon fluxes via plant-fungal pathways. Our estimates, although based on the best available evidence, are imperfect and should be interpreted with caution. Nonetheless, our estimations are conservative, and we argue that this work confirms the significant contribution made by mycorrhizal associations to global carbon dynamics. Our findings should motivate their inclusion both within global climate and carbon cycling models, and within conservation policy and practice.
Topics: Mycorrhizae; Ecosystem; Carbon; Fungi; Plants; Soil; Mycelium; Plant Roots; Soil Microbiology
PubMed: 37279689
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.02.027 -
Bio Systems Jul 2023Living fungal mycelium networks are proven to have properties of memristors, capacitors and various sensors. To further progress our designs in fungal electronics we...
Living fungal mycelium networks are proven to have properties of memristors, capacitors and various sensors. To further progress our designs in fungal electronics we need to evaluate how electrical signals can be propagated through mycelium networks. We investigate the ability of mycelium-bound composites to convey electrical signals, thereby enabling the transmission of frequency-modulated information. Mycelium networks were found to reliably transfer signals with a recoverable frequency comparable to the input, in the 100Hz to 10 000Hz frequency range. Mycelial adaptive responses, such as tissue repair, may result in fragile connections, however. While the mean amplitude of output signals was not reproducible among replicate experiments exposed to the same input frequency, the variance across groups was highly consistent. Our work is supported by NARX modelling through which an approximate transfer function was derived. These findings advance the state of the art of using mycelium-bound composites in analogue electronics and unconventional computing.
Topics: Mycelium; Fungi
PubMed: 37257553
DOI: 10.1016/j.biosystems.2023.104933