The Great Sebkha of Oran is a closed depression located in northwestern of Algeria. Despite the ranking of this sebkha among the wetlands of global importance by Ramsar Convention in 2002, no studies on the fungal community in this area have been carried out. In our study, samples were collected from two different regions. The first region is characterized by halophilic vegetation and cereal crops and the second by a total absence of vegetation. The isolated strains were identified morphologically then by molecular analysis. The biotechnological interest of the strains was evaluated by testing their ability to grow at different concentration of NaCl and to produce extracellular enzymes (i.e., lipase, amylase, protease, and cellulase) on solid medium. The results showed that the soil of sebkha is alkaline, with the exception of the soil of cereal crops that is neutral, and extremely saline. In this work, the species Gymnoascus halophilus, Trichoderma gamsii, the two phytopathogenic fungi, Fusarium brachygibbosum and Penicillium allii, and the teleomorphic form of P. longicatenatum observed for the first time in this species, were isolated for the first time in Algeria. The halotolerance test revealed that the majority of the isolated are halotolerant. Wallemia sp. and two strains of G. halophilus are the only obligate halophilic strains. All strains are capable to secrete at least one of the four tested enzymes. The most interesting species presenting the highest enzymatic index were Aspergillus sp. strain A4, Chaetomium sp. strain H1, P. vinaceum, G. halophilus, Wallemia sp. and Ustilago cynodontis.
Algeria ; Amylases ; Aspergillus ; Chaetomium ; Depression ; Edible Grain ; Fungi ; Fusarium ; Lipase ; Penicillium ; Salt-Tolerance ; Soil ; Trichoderma ; Ustilago ; Wetlands

In this study, eight-month-old ectomycorrhizae of Tuber borchii with Corylus avellana were synthesized to explore the influence of T. borchii colonization on the soil properties and the microbial communities associated with C. avellana during the early symbiotic stage. The results showed that the bacterial richness and diversity in the ectomycorrhizae were significantly higher than those in the control roots, whereas the fungal diversity was not changed in response to T. borchii colonization. Tuber was the dominant taxon (82.97%) in ectomycorrhizae. Some pathogenic fungi, including Ilyonectria and Podospora, and other competitive mycorrhizal fungi, such as Hymenochaete, had significantly lower abundance in the T. borchii inoculation treatment. It was found that the ectomycorrhizae of C. avellana contained some more abundant bacterial genera (e.g., Rhizobium, Pedomicrobium, Ilumatobacter, Streptomyces, and Geobacillus) and fungal genera (e.g., Trechispora and Humicola) than the control roots. The properties of rhizosphere soils were also changed by T. borchii colonization, like available nitrogen, available phosphorus and exchangeable magnesium, which indicated a feedback effect of mycorrhizal synthesis on soil properties. Overall, this work highlighted the interactions between the symbionts and the microbes present in the host, which shed light on our understanding of the ecological functions of T. borchii and facilitate its commercial cultivation.
Colon ; Corylus ; Fungi ; Magnesium ; Mycorrhizae ; Nitrogen ; Phosphorus ; Podospora ; Rhizobium ; Rhizosphere ; Soil ; Streptomyces

To obtain biocontrol fungus for Alternaria panax,the antifungal effects of one strain of endophytic fungi isolated from leaves of healthy ginseng were screened and evaluated by using dual-culture method,and the taxonomic assignment of the screened strain was identified based on the morphological characters and ITS sequence analysis. The results of dual-culture showed that one of the endophytes marked as FS-01 had good antifungal effects and the inhibitory rates of FS-01 strain to A. panax was( 60. 21±0. 12) %.The hyphae junction of the both strains,A. panax dissolved,broke and winded,while the hyphae of FS-01 strain remained normal. The inhibitory rates of non-sterilized FS-01 strain fermentation liqud was( 13. 94±0. 21) %. Strain FS-01 identified as Chaetomium globosum.
Alternaria ; pathogenicity ; Antibiosis ; Chaetomium ; classification ; isolation & purification ; Endophytes ; isolation & purification ; Fungicides, Industrial ; Panax ; microbiology ; Plant Diseases ; prevention & control

Peanut yield and quality are seriously affected by pod rot pathogens worldwide, especially in China in recent years. The goals of this study are to analyze the structure of fungal communities of peanut pod rot in soil in three peanut cultivars and the correlation of pod rot with environmental variables using 454 pyrosequencing. A total of 46,723 internal transcribed spacer high-quality sequences were obtained and grouped into 1,706 operational taxonomic units at the 97% similarity cut-off level. The coverage, rank abundance, and the Chao 1 and Shannon diversity indices of the operational taxonomic units were analyzed. Members of the phylum Ascomycota were dominant, such as Fusarium, Chaetomium, Alternaria, and Sordariomycetes, followed by Basidiomycota. The results of the heatmap and redundancy analysis revealed significant variation in the composition of the fungal community among the three cultivar samples. The environmental conditions in different peanut cultivars may also influence on the structure of the fungal community. The results of this study suggest that the causal agent of peanut pod rot may be more complex, and cultivars and environmental conditions are both important contributors to the community structure of peanut pod rot fungi.
Alternaria ; Arachis* ; Ascomycota ; Basidiomycota ; Chaetomium ; China* ; Fungi* ; Fusarium ; Soil*

Isolation and purification of chemical constituents from solid culture of endophyte Chaetomium globosum in Imperata cylindrical was performed through silica gel column chromatography, gel filtration over Sephadex LH-20 and preparative HPLC. Nine compounds were obtained and their structures were determined as chaetoglobosin F(1), chaetoglobosin Fex(2), chaetoglobosin E(3) cytoglobosin A(4), penochalasin C(S), isochaetoglobosin D (6), N-benzoylphenylalaninyl-N-benzoyphenylalaninate(7), uracil(8) and 5-methyluracil(9), respectively, based on HR-MS and NMR data and comparison with literatures. Compound 7 was isolated from Chaeeomium sp. for the first time. In vitro cytotoxicity of compounds was evaluated using MTT mothed and 1,3,4 and 5 showed inhibition activity to the human cervical carcinoma cell HeLa with IC50 values of 99.43, 23.77, 97.92, 86.25 micromol x L(-1), while positive cotolocisnin Ad apno1ch alse IC50 24.33 micromol x L(-1).
Biological Factors ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Cell Line ; Cell Survival ; drug effects ; Chaetomium ; chemistry ; Endophytes ; chemistry ; Humans ; Molecular Structure ; Poaceae ; microbiology ; Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization

Thailand is one of the largest citrus producers in Southeast Asia. Pathogenic infection by Phytophthora, however, has become one of major impediments to production. This study identified a pathogenic oomycete isolated from rotted roots of pomelo (Citrus maxima) in Thailand as Phytophthora nicotianae by the internal transcribed spacer ribosomal DNA sequence analysis. Then, we examined the in vitro and in vivo effects of Chaetomium globosum, Chaetomium lucknowense, Chaetomium cupreum and their crude extracts as biological control agents in controlling this P. nicotianae strain. Represent as antagonists in biculture test, the tested Chaetomium species inhibited mycelial growth by 50~56% and parasitized the hyphae, resulting in degradation of P. nicotianae mycelia after 30 days. The crude extracts of these Chaetomium species exhibited antifungal activities against mycelial growth of P. nicotianae, with effective doses of 2.6~101.4 microg/mL. Under greenhouse conditions, application of spores and methanol extracts of these Chaetomium species to pomelo seedlings inoculated with P. nicotianae reduced root rot by 66~71% and increased plant weight by 72~85% compared to that in the control. The method of application of antagonistic spores to control the disease was simple and economical, and it may thus be applicable for large-scale, highly effective biological control of this pathogen.
Asia, Southeastern ; Biological Control Agents* ; Chaetomium* ; Citrus* ; Complex Mixtures ; DNA, Ribosomal ; Hyphae ; Methanol ; Oomycetes ; Phytophthora* ; Plants ; Seedlings ; Sequence Analysis ; Spores ; Thailand ; Tobacco*

Phytophthora diseases have become a major impediment in the citrus production in Thailand. In this study, an isolate of Phytophthora denominated as PHY02 was proven to be causal pathogen of root rot of Pomelo (Citrus maxima) in Thailand. The isolate PHY02 was morphologically characterized and identified as Phytophthora palmivora based on molecular analysis of an internal transcribed spacer rDNA sequence. This work also presents in vitro evaluations of the capacities of Chaetomium spp. to control the P. palmivora PHY02. As antagonists, Chaetomium globosum CG05, Chaetomium cupreum CC3003, Chaetomium lucknowense CL01 inhibited 50~61% mycelial growth, degraded mycelia and reduced 92~99% sporangial production of P. palmivora PHY02 in bi-culture test after 30 days. Fungal metabolites from Chaetomium spp. were tested against PHY02. Results showed that, methanol extract of C. globosum CG05 expressed strongest inhibitory effects on mycelial growth and sporangium formation of P. palmivora PHY02 with effective dose ED50 values of 26.5 microg/mL and 2.3 microg/mL, respectively. It is interesting that C. lucknowense is reported for the first time as an effective antagonist against a species of Phytophthora.
Chaetomium* ; Citrus ; DNA, Ribosomal ; Methanol ; Phytophthora* ; Sporangia ; Thailand

Filamentous fungi are widely used for large-scale production of cellulases. Morphological characteristics of mycelia under submerged condition are closely correlated with cellulases productivity. In order to find out the critical genes involved in the mycelial morphology development and cellulases production in liquid fermentation, 95 Neurospora crassa morphological mutants (named as SZY1-95) were screened for cellulases production. Compared with the wild type, cellulases production in four mutants SZY32, SZY35, SZY39 and SZY43 were significantly decreased, whereas mutants SZY63, SZY69, SZY87 and SZY11 produced much more cellulases than that of the wild type strain. Meanwhile, endo-beta-1,4-glucanase activity, beta-glucosidase activity, viscosity of broth and dry weight of these mutants were measured. The mycelial morphology of the mutants was also studied by microscope. Particularly, pellets were formed in mutant SZY11 and SZY43, whose viscosities were 25% and 50% of the wild type strain, respectively. Mutant SZY87 appeared long hyphae, and the viscosity of its broth was at least 2 folds of the wild type strain. These results indicate that a single gene deletion could influence the mycelial morphology in liquid fermentation, and increased the cellulases production. The low-viscosity related genes identified in our study will be the potential candidates for genetic modification of filamentous fungi.
Cellulases ; biosynthesis ; Fermentation ; Gene Deletion ; Industrial Microbiology ; Neurospora crassa ; genetics ; metabolism

A total of 52 endophytic fungi were isolated from roots and stems of Tibetan medicinal plant Phlomis younghusbandii Mukerjee. These fungal isolates were molecularly identified based on ITS sequnces and 28S sequences distributed to 12 genera, including Phoma, Chaetosphaeronema, Fusarium and Leptosphaeria, etc. Among them, the dominant genus was Phoma. Extracts of all strains were evaluated for anti-HIV-1 integrase activity by using soluable integrase expressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3). The results showed that seven samples from five fungal endophytes PHY-24, PHY-38, PHY-40, PHY-51, PHY-53, which belonged to genus Chaetosphaeronema, inhibited strand transfer reaction catalyzed by HIV-1 integrase with IC50 values, of 6.60, 5.20, 2.86, 7.86, 4.47, 4.56 and 3.23 microg x mL(-1) respectively. In conclusion, the endophytic fungi of Phlomis younghusbandii Mukerjee are valuable for further screening anti-HIV-1 integrase agents.
Ascomycota ; enzymology ; isolation & purification ; Chaetomium ; enzymology ; isolation & purification ; Endophytes ; enzymology ; isolation & purification ; Escherichia coli ; enzymology ; HIV Integrase ; genetics ; metabolism ; HIV Integrase Inhibitors ; pharmacology ; Phlomis ; microbiology ; Phylogeny ; Plant Roots ; microbiology ; Plant Stems ; microbiology ; Plants, Medicinal ; microbiology ; Plasmids ; Recombinant Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism

Onychomycosis is usually caused by dermatophytes, but some nondermatophytic molds and yeasts are also associated with invasion of nails. The genus Chaetomium is a dematiaceous nondermatophytic mold found in soil and plant debris as a saprophytic fungus. We report the first Korean case of onychomycosis caused by Chaetomium globosum in a 35-year-old male. The patient showed brownish-yellow discoloration and subungual hyperkeratosis on the right toenails (1st and 5th) and left toenails (1st and 4th). Direct microscopic examination of scraping on the potassium hydroxide preparation revealed septate hyphae and repeated cultures on Sabouraud's dextrose agar (SDA) without cycloheximide slants showed the same fast-growing colonies, which were initially velvety white then turned to dark gray to brown. However, there was no growth of colony on SDA with cycloheximide slants. Brown-colored septated hyphae, perithecia and ascospores were shown in the slide culture. The DNA sequence of internal transcribed spacer region of the clinical sample was a 100% match to that of C. globosum strain ATCC 6205 (GenBank accession number EF524036.1). We confirmed C. globosum by KOH mount, colony, and light microscopic morphology and DNA sequence analysis. The patient was treated with 250 mg oral terbinafine daily and topical amorolfine 5% nail lacquer for 3 months.
Agar ; Arthrodermataceae ; Base Sequence ; Chaetomium ; Cycloheximide ; Fungi ; Glucose ; Humans ; Hydroxides ; Hyphae ; Lacquer ; Light ; Male ; Morpholines ; Nails ; Naphthalenes ; Onychomycosis ; Plants ; Potassium ; Potassium Compounds ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Soil ; Sprains and Strains ; Yeasts