Isolation and Screening from Soil Biodiversity for Fungi Involved in the Degradation of Recalcitrant Materials

Environmental pollution is an increasing problem, and identifying fungi involved in the bioremediation process is an essential task. Soil hosts an ...

University of Pavia

Four filamentous fungi associated with nematodes were isolated and identified from litter samples collected in the Integral Natural Reserve "Bosco Siro Negri" (PV, Italy): Arthrobotrys dactyloides, Arthrobotrys oligospora var. oligospora, Pochonia bulbillosa, and Pochonia chlamydosporia var. catenulata. Their capacity to break down the nematode population was evaluated in vitro by means of simple and reproducible multiwell plates method. All fungal strains were able to cause a death-rate significantly different from the controls (p < 0.05). Precisely, A. dactyloides caused, on average, a 26% death rate increase in the nematode population compared to the control, A. oligospora var. oligospora 25%, P. bulbillosa 12%, and P. chlamidosporia var. catenulata 17%. The method has also allowed to determine the more active fungi as regards the prey's life cycle stage. The most active strains against nematodes (adults) were A. dactyloides and A. oligospora var. oligospora, known to attack adults or larval stages by means of tridimensional traps. On the contrary P. bulbillosa and P. chlamydosporia, known to attack mainly the nematode life stage of cysts, showed lower activity against adult nematodes.

In vitro evaluation of nematophagous activity of fungal isolates.

Nowadays, endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided fine needle aspiration (FNA), and fine needle biopsy (FNB) are considered the best procedures for the diagnosis of biliopancreatic lesions. These methods represent a milestone since they proved to be both safe for the patient and useful to achieve diagnostic material useful to plan the best treatment strategy.

Fine Needle Aspiration versus Fine Needle Biopsy of Biliopancreatic Lesions: Are They Really Opposing Techniques or Can They Be Complementary? Our Experience in a Large Cohort of Cases from a Single Institution.

Although Colombia was one of the first tropical countries where an effort was made to gather mycological flora, contributions to the taxonomy, diversity, and ecology of soil microfungi are still scarce. In this study, the diversity of soil microfungi was studied collecting data from literature according to the Colombian natural regions: Andean, Amazonian, Caribbean, Orinoquía, Pacific, and Insular. The majority of the records comes from the Andean region, the most accessible to research. The other regions have been much less studied, with the Insular one with no data at all. International literature reported, up to now, ca. 300 different species of soil microfungi belonging to 126 different genera and 6 phyla (, , , , and ). Vescicular-Arbuscular fungi were widely investigated with  and , the most recorded genera with ca. 20 species each.  was the most diverse phylum with , , and  representing the majority.  is strongly present in , and in the panorama of all recorded fungi, too. The other phyla and genera were less recorded. It is, therefore, evident the need to continue studying the soil microfungi in Colombia to have a better understanding of soil functioning and its ecosystem services.

Soil Microfungi of the Colombian Natural Regions.

In Colombia, the cultivation of deciduous fruit trees such as pear is expanding for socio-economic reasons and is becoming more and more important for the local population. Since organized cultivation is slowly replacing sustenance cultivation, scientific information on the present agro-environment is needed to proceed in this change in an organic and environmentally friendly way. In particular, this study is an accurate description of the mycobiota present in the bulk soil of two different high altitude pear orchards in the Colombian Andes. The metabarcoding of soil samples allowed an in-depth analysis of the whole fungal community. The fungal assemblage was generally dominated by Ascomycota and secondly by Mortierellomycota. As observed in other studies in Colombia, the genus  was found to be especially abundant. The soil of the different pear orchards appeared to host quite different fungal communities according to the soil physico-chemical properties. The common mycobiota contained 35 fungal species, including several species of , ,  and . Moreover, most of the identified fungal species (79%) were recorded for the first time in Colombian soils, thus adding important information on soil biodiversity regarding both Colombia and pear orchards.

The Mycobiota of High Altitude Pear Orchards Soil in Colombia.

Fungi represent an essential component of ecosystems, functioning as decomposers and biotrophs, and they are one of the most diverse groups of Eukarya. In the tropics, many species are unknown. In this work, high-throughput DNA sequencing was used to discover the biodiversity of soil fungi in the Aguarongo forest reserve, one of the richest biodiversity hotspots in Ecuador. The rDNA metabarcoding analysis revealed the presence of seven phyla: , , , , , , and . A total of 440 identified species were recorded. They mainly belonged to  (263) and  (127). In , 12 species were recorded, among which  is extremely frequent and represents the dominant species in the entire mycobiota of Aguarongo. The present research provides the first account of the entire soil mycobiota in the Aguarongo forest, where many fungal species exist that have strong application potential in agriculture, bioremediation, chemical, and the food industry. The Aguarongo forest hides a huge number of unknown fungal species that could be assessed, and its protection is of the utmost importance.

Soil Fungal Diversity of the Aguarongo Andean Forest (Ecuador).

Trichoderma spp. are among the front-line microorganisms commonly employed in novel biotechnology applications. They have been well-proven as biopesticides, biofertilizers, and biostimulants for managing plants against biotic and abiotic stresses. They are instrumental in managing plant diseases of economic importance, such as tomato root rot. However, this group of fungi has not been well-exploited en-mass in developing countries, while the use of bioagents in-lieu of chemical pesticides is still not a common practice in many African countries. Africa contributes 11.8% to global tomato production. Unfortunately, more than half of the actual product is lost due to diseases. The root rot of tomatoes predominantly caused by soil-borne fungal pathogens are among significant problems of tomato cultivation in Africa. Here, we review the constraints of tomato root rot in Africa and the roles of Trichoderma in repositioning the crop for optimum productivity. We gave a comprehensive overview of the economic importance, root rot epidemiology, and how to circumvent it through gene pool to resistant tomato and employ Trichoderma's biological control potentials. Furthermore, this review gives an overview of the mechanisms of action of Trichoderma, gaps in the advocacy, adoption, commercialization, and regulation of Trichoderma as biocontrol agents of tomato rot diseases in Africa.

Lidia Nicola

Laboratory of Mycology,
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences,
Laboratory of Mycology, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences

University of Pavia

Isolation and Screening from Soil Biodiversity for Fungi Involved in the Degradation of Recalcitrant Materials

Lidia Nicola

.css-o250i3{font-size:18px;font-family:Open Sans,sans-serif;line-height:21.6px;}Laboratory of Mycology,Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences,Laboratory of Mycology, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences

University of Pavia

Isolation and Screening from Soil Biodiversity for Fungi Involved in the Degradation of Recalcitrant Materials

Laboratory of Mycology,
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences,
Laboratory of Mycology, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences