What has happened to the “aquatic phycomycetes” (sensu Sparrow)? Part I: A brief historical perspective
Publication date: Available online 24 October 2017 Source:Fungal Biology Reviews Author(s): Frank H. Gleason, Agostina V. Marano, Osu Lilje, Lene Lange The “aquatic phycomycetes” constitute an ecologically and economically important assemblage of eukaryotic microorganisms, because they share many morphological traits and important ecological functions and they interact with each other in aquatic ecosystems. The last two decades of research have provided both molecular and structural evidence that the “aquatic phycomycetes” are a diverse, polyphyletic grouping and therefore not a valid taxonomic entity. Very l...
Source: Fungal Biology Reviews - October 25, 2017 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Armed and dangerous – Chemical warfare in wood decay communities
Publication date: Available online 18 August 2017 Source:Fungal Biology Reviews Author(s): Jennifer Hiscox, Lynne Boddy Fungal community structure and development in decaying woody resources are largely dependent on interspecific antagonistic interactions that determine the distribution of territory – and hence the nutrients within – between different individuals occupying that resource. Interactions are mediated by antagonistic mechanisms, which determine the combative outcome: either deadlock, where neither mycelium loses any territory, or replacement, where one mycelium displaces the other. These mechanisms func...
Source: Fungal Biology Reviews - August 19, 2017 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Epigenetic determinants of phenotypic plasticity in Candida albicans
Publication date: Available online 18 August 2017 Source:Fungal Biology Reviews Author(s): Laxmi Shanker Rai, Rima Singha, Priya Brahma, Kaustuv Sanyal Epigenetics literally means heritable changes in gene expression without any modification in the DNA sequence. The field of epigenetics is revolutionising our understanding of basic fundamental principles behind the normal development and the diseased state of an individual. However, chromatin modifications during infection, wherein the pathogen interacts with its host, received comparatively little attention. Nevertheless, the role of epigenetics in the establishment...
Source: Fungal Biology Reviews - August 18, 2017 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Biotechnological use of Candida yeasts in the food industry: A review
Publication date: Available online 22 July 2017 Source:Fungal Biology Reviews Author(s): Marek Kieliszek, Anna M. Kot, Anna Bzducha-Wróbel, Stanisław BŁażejak, Iwona Gientka, Agnieszka Kurcz Yeasts of the Candida genus comprise a group of microbes with a significant potential for industrial use. This work presents some directions for biotechnological use of these microbes. The first includes utilization of biomass of Candida utilis yeasts as a source of microbial proteins, rich in exogenous amino acids, including lysine. Biomass of Candida yeasts is also a source of β-glucans, glucomannan, and mannoproteins wi...
Source: Fungal Biology Reviews - July 23, 2017 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Which MAT gene? Pezizomycotina (Ascomycota) mating-type gene nomenclature reconsidered
Publication date: Available online 2 July 2017 Source:Fungal Biology Reviews Author(s): P. Markus Wilken, Emma T. Steenkamp, Michael J. Wingfield, Z. Wilhelm de Beer, Brenda D. Wingfield Filamentous fungi in the subdivision Pezizomycotina (Ascomycota) display an impressive diversity of mating strategies. These mating systems are all controlled by the mating-type (MAT) genes, some of which are conserved, even among distantly related genera. In order to facilitate effective communication between researchers, a system was established in 2000 to name these genes and this has subsequently been widely applied. However, du...
Source: Fungal Biology Reviews - July 4, 2017 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Life styles of Colletotrichum species and implications for plant biosecurity
Publication date: Available online 20 June 2017 Source:Fungal Biology Reviews Author(s): Dilani D. De Silva, Pedro W. Crous, Peter K. Ades, Kevin D. Hyde, Paul W.J. Taylor Colletotrichum is a genus of major plant pathogens causing anthracnose diseases in many plant crops worldwide. The genus comprises a highly diverse group of pathogens that infect a wide range of plant hosts. The life styles of Colletotrichum species can be broadly categorised as necrotrophic, hemibiotrophic, latent or quiescent and endophytic; of which hemibiotrophic is the most common. The differences in life style depend on the Colletotrichum sp...
Source: Fungal Biology Reviews - June 21, 2017 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Occurrence of indoor wood decay basidiomycetes in Europe
Publication date: Available online 1 June 2017 Source:Fungal Biology Reviews Author(s): Jiří Gabriel, Karel Švec Brown-rot fungi are considered to be the most important wood-inhabiting fungi economically, as they also deteriorate the wood that has been used in buildings. In the northern hemisphere, coniferous wood is the main source of interior structural timber. White-rot fungi, which degrade lignin and preferentially attack hardwood, are less common. Emphasis is usually placed on Serpula lacrymans or Coniophora puteana, which are the most common indoor basidiomycetes found in buildings in Europe. In this review, w...
Source: Fungal Biology Reviews - June 2, 2017 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Climate change, food security and mycotoxins: Do we know enough?
Publication date: Available online 18 May 2017 Source:Fungal Biology Reviews Author(s): Angel Medina, Asya Akbar, Alaa Baazeem, Alicia Rodriguez, Naresh Magan Climate change (CC) scenarios are predicted to have significant effects on the security of staple commodities. A key component of this impact is the infection of such crops by mycotoxigenic moulds and contamination with mycotoxins. The impacts of CC on mycotoxigenic fungi requires examination of the impacts of the three-way interactions between elevated CO2 (350–400 vs 650–1200 ppm), temperature increases (+2–5 °C) and drought stress on growth/mycotox...
Source: Fungal Biology Reviews - May 19, 2017 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Large-scale genomic analyses of in vitro yeast-mycelium dimorphism in human, insect and plant pathogenic fungi: From ESTs to RNAseq experiments
Publication date: Available online 5 May 2017 Source:Fungal Biology Reviews Author(s): M. Nigg, L. Bernier Yeast-mycelium fungal dimorphism is a complex trait studied for many years, particularly in pathogenic fungi for which the morphological switch is often associated with virulence. It is a characteristic shared by many species from very different taxonomic classes. In this review, we present 26 dimorphic fungal species which are pathogens of mammals, insects or plants. Understanding the molecular mechanisms that regulate the morphological switch from yeast to mycelium, or vice-versa, is necessary for the comprehens...
Source: Fungal Biology Reviews - May 6, 2017 Category: Biology Source Type: research
The next generation fungal diversity researcher
Publication date: Available online 23 March 2017 Source:Fungal Biology Reviews Author(s): Martin Grube, Ester Gaya, Håvard Kauserud, Adrian M. Smith, Simon V. Avery, Sara J. Fernstad, Lucia Muggia, Michael D. Martin, Tove Eivindsen, Urmas Kõljalg, Mika Bendiksby Fungi are more important to our lives than is assumed by the general public. They can comprise both devastating pathogens and plant-associated mutualists in nature, and several species have also become important workhorses of biotechnology. Fungal diversity research has in a short time transcended from a low-tech research area to a method-intensive h...
Source: Fungal Biology Reviews - March 30, 2017 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Antifungal activities of wood extractives
Publication date: Available online 15 February 2017 Source:Fungal Biology Reviews Author(s): Nicolas Valette, Thomas Perrot, Rodnay Sormani, Eric Gelhaye, Mélanie Morel-Rouhier Extractives are non-structural wood molecules that represent a minor fraction in wood. However, they are source of diverse molecules putatively bioactive. Inhibition of fungal growth is one of the most interesting properties of wood extractives in a context of wood preservation, crop protection or medical treatments. The antifungal effect of molecules isolated from wood extractives has been mainly attributed to various mechanisms such as met...
Source: Fungal Biology Reviews - February 15, 2017 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Big data integration: Pan-European fungal species observations' assembly for addressing contemporary questions in ecology and global change biology
Publication date: Available online 30 January 2017 Source:Fungal Biology Reviews Author(s): Carrie Andrew, Einar Heegaard, Paul M. Kirk, Claus Bässler, Jacob Heilmann-Clausen, Irmgard Krisai-Greilhuber, Thomas W. Kuyper, Beatrice Senn-Irlet, Ulf Büntgen, Jeffrey Diez, Simon Egli, Alan C. Gange, Rune Halvorsen, Klaus Høiland, Jenni Nordén, Fredrik Rustøen, Lynne Boddy, Håvard Kauserud Species occurrence observations are increasingly available for scientific analyses through citizen science projects and digitization of museum records, representing a largely untapped ecological resource. When combine...
Source: Fungal Biology Reviews - January 30, 2017 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Functions of fungal melanin beyond virulence
Publication date: Available online 18 January 2017 Source:Fungal Biology Reviews Author(s): Radames J.B. Cordero, Arturo Casadevall Melanins are ancient biological pigments found in all kingdoms of life. In fungi, their role in microbial pathogenesis is well established; however, these complex biomolecules also confer upon fungal microorganisms the faculty to tolerate extreme environments such as the Earth's poles, the International Space Station and places contaminated by toxic metals and ionizing radiation. A remarkable property of melanin is its capacity to interact with a wide range of electromagnetic radiation fre...
Source: Fungal Biology Reviews - January 18, 2017 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Aerobic and anaerobic fungal metabolism and Omics insights for increasing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons biodegradation
This study focuses on summarizes recent information of PAHs biodegradation by aerobic and anaerobic fungi. Such information develops a new point of view on how organic molecules including PAHs are metabolically degraded in a complicated ecosystem and assists the foundation of new decontamination strategies due to the microbial interactions between fungi and their associates. Emerging integrative approaches including metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, metabolomics, and metaproteomics are studied in order to understand how these approaches give insight into decipher the molecular mechanisms of degradation of PAHs by fungi at...
Source: Fungal Biology Reviews - January 13, 2017 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Mucor: A Janus-faced fungal genus with human health impact and industrial applications
Publication date: Available online 11 January 2017 Source:Fungal Biology Reviews Author(s): Stéphanie Morin-Sardin, Patrice Nodet, Emmanuel Coton, Jean-Luc Jany The Mucor genus, a polyphyletic group pertaining to early diverging lineages of fungi, includes a high number of ubiquitous species. Some species have positive or negative impacts on human activities. Indeed, certain pathogenic Mucor species are a threat for animal and human health and identified more frequently as mycosis causative agents, especially in immunocompromised patients. On the contrary, a small number of Mucor species have been used for centuries...
Source: Fungal Biology Reviews - January 11, 2017 Category: Biology Source Type: research
