Aspergillus

Fructooligosaccharides (FOS) are prebiotic substances found in several vegetable or natural foods. The main commercial production of FOS comes from enzymatic transformation of sucrose by the microbial enzyme fructosyltransferase. The development of more efficient enzymes, with high activity and stability, is required and this has attracted the interest of biotechnologists and microbiologists with production by several microorganisms being studied. This article reviews and discusses FOS chemical structure, enzyme characteristics, the nomenclature, producer microorganisms and enzyme production both in solid state fermentation and submerged cultivation.

Malignancies arising from biliary tract epithelia, or cholangiocarcinoma, are rare tumors that have a poor prognosis. The incidence of these tumors is gradually increasing in many countries. Recent advances have been made in identifying some of the risk factors, and the need for appropriate classification is emerging. The diagnosis of cholangiocarcinoma is often difficult and requires multiple complementary studies. The use of molecular approaches may improve the diagnostic utility of biliary cytology. Treatment of these tumors is complex, and there are many different treatment options. Although surgical resection can be curative, many patients with cholangiocarcinoma are diagnosed at an advanced stage when only palliative approaches can be used. Photodynamic therapy is emerging as a useful modality.

This study was car­ried out to pro­vide an overview of the fun­gal load in Al­ger­ian tra­di­tional baths (Ham­mams) as well as to iso­late and iden­tify the main path­o­genic fungi. Over a pe­riod of four months, ten baths were ex­am­ined and screened for fun­gal con­t­a­m­i­na­tion from sev­eral parts of the hot steamy rooms (floor, wall, door, air and mar­ble mas­sage plat­form). In to­tal, 7157 fungi iso­lates were re­cov­ered from the sur­veyed Ham­mams and the most abun­dant molds were Peni­cil­lium spp. (45.12%) fol­lowed by As­pergillus spp. (28.80%). In ad­di­tion, molds flora in tra­di­tional baths was char­ac­ter­ized by a large num­ber of hy­drophilic species like Cla­dospo­rium, Fusar­ium, Rhi­zo­pus, Mu­cor and Al­ternaria. Eight can­dida-like ap­peared fre­quently (C. al­bi­cans, C. glabrata, C. trop­i­calis, C. lipoly­t­ica, Ge­ot­richum sp., Tri­chosporon sp., Rhodotorula sp. and Cryp­to­coc­cus sp.) of which C. al­bi­cans was the com­mon iso­lated yeast (35.14%). The re­sults in­di­cate a sig­nif­i­cant dif­fer­ence (p = 0.007) in species rich­ness be­tween molds and yeasts and their dis­tri­b­u­tion var­ied sig­nif­i­cantly among sam­pled po­si­tions in baths. AN­COVA re­vealed a sig­nif­i­cant in­crease in fun­gal loads re­lated to the av­er­age num­ber of cus­tomers and mean open­ing year of the Ham­mams, in con­trast with lo­cal­ity (fa­vored or pop­u­lar dis­trict). This study in­di­cates that Ham­mams pre­sent a po­ten­tial source of path­o­genic fungi which may im­pose a real threat on pub­lic health

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Market is the main place for transactions of medicinal plants and traditional ingredients by local community in the Karo regency, North Sumatra, Indonesia. This is the rst study to document the local knowledge of traders on and the diversity of the medicinal plants. The investigation was carried out in the Kabanjahe traditional market, in the Karo regency. The research goal was to reveal the local knowledge, diversity and utilization of medicinal plants, which have been traded in the Kabanjahe traditional market, as a basis for conservation efforts. Materials and methods: The study was conducted through ethnobotanical approach using market surveys. All traders of medicinal plants were surveyed applying in-depth interviews and participative observations. Data were analyzed qualitatively using descriptive statistics. The diversity of medicinal plants was expressed in term of the Shannon–Wiener diversity index (H'), whereas the similarity among traders was indicated by Jaccard index (Ji). Results: Traders of medicinal plants stored the simplicia of medicinal plants in chest of drawers, plastic baskets, plastic bags, and in the air by suspending them from the the stall ceilings. We recorded 344 species, 217 genera and 90 families of medicinal plants. Those that were sold mostly belong to Zinge-beraceae (20 species), Poaceae (19 species), and Asclepiadaceae (17 species), and the species received high consumers demand, mostly belong to Zingiberaceae, Rutaceae, and Asclepidiaceae. Asclepidiaceae was used to treat diseases like cancer and heart problems. The Shannon–Wiener diversity index of medicinal plants at the Kabanjahe traditional market was high (H' ¼ 5.637). The high Jaccard similarity index (Ji 40.56) suggested that the traders were trading similar species of medicinal plants. Conclusion: Kabanjahe traditional market is the center for the sale of of medicinal plants as traditional ingredients. Several species are well known for their pharmacological properties but others, [such as: Dischidia imbricata (Blume) Steud., Dischidia nummularia R.Br., Hoya macrophylla Blume, and Hoya cor-iacea Blume] have been used for cancer treatment by local communities, but pharmacologically unknown , hence they are promising candidates for further investigation.

Aspergillus infections are among the most feared opportunistic infections in humans because they are capable of causing several distinct pulmonary diseases. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of Aspergillus species in patients with pulmonary pneumonia and susceptibility testing to the most commonly used antifungal agents.
A total of 311 specimens were collected from patients presented with the pulmonary complaint. Out of which, 139 (44.6%) yielded Aspergillus growth. Aspergillus isolates were obtained from Bronchoalveolar lavage and sputum. Ten species of Aspergillus were identified, A. flavus, A. niger, and A. terreus were the most frequently isolated species. Antifungal susceptibility of 10 different Aspergillus spp. isolates were performed using E-test. Voriconazole and caspofungin were having full inhibitory activity (100%) against tested Aspergillus spp., while some resistance was observed against itraconazole and posaconazole (50% and 75% respectively). Aspergillus was found to be the predominant fungal pathogen isolated from patients with pulmonary diseases, notably from patients with COPD and pulmonary TB.

The acaricidal efficacy of nine marketed products, i.e. Acardust, Acarosan (foam and powder), Actelic 50, Artilin 3A (spirit and water base), liquid nitrogen, Paragerm AK, and Tymasil, and of intensive vacuum-cleaning have been compared on four different test surfaces: mattress, tufted carpet, gypsum board and rough wooden board, all covered with artificial house dust. They were inoculated with the house dust mite, Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus or the house-dust fungus Aspergillus repens for evaluation of the fungistatic claims of some products. The acaricidal activity of Tymasil did not surpass that of vacuuming; its fungistatic effect was not apparent. The other products showed complete to almost complete eradication on at least one of the substrates tested. Taking into account the results of acaricidal efficacy as well as the data on safety and practicality acquired earlier, Acarosan powder was considered first choice for carpet treatment. Acarosan and liquid nitrogen, were found to be effective in the treatment of mattress, pillow, upholstered furniture and heavy curtains. On wooden surfaces Acarosan was found to be both effective and safe, while Acardust, Actelic 50, Artilin 3A (both fungistatic as well as acaricidal), liquid nitrogen and Paragerm also passed the efficiency test.

The natural mycobiota occurring in bee pollen is studied in the present report with special attention to analyze the incidence of fungal species that are potential producers of mycotoxins. A total of 90 ready-to-eat bee pollen samples were analyzed. Eighty-seven samples were collected in stores placed in different Spanish areas and three were from Buenos Aires (Argentina). The statistical results (ANOVA) showed that yeasts and Penicillium spp. were the predominant fungi. With regard to the potential mycotoxin producing species, Penicillium verrucosum, Aspergillus niger aggregate, Aspergillus carbonarius, Aspergillus ochraceus, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus parasiticus and Alternaria spp. were found. The last genus was isolated very frequently. The potential ability for producing ochratoxin A (OTA) and aflatoxins B1, B2, G1 and G2 was studied by culturing in vitro the isolates followed by analysis of these mycotoxins in culture extracts by HPLC with fluorescent detection. It was found that 100%, 53.3%, 33.3% and 25% of the isolates of A. carbonarius, A. ochraceus, P. verrucosum and A. niger aggregate, respectively, produced OTA. Moreover, 28.6% of the isolates from the A. flavus plus A. parasiticus group were able to produce aflatoxin B1. Aflatoxin B2 was detected in only 10% of the cultures. Aflatoxins G1 and G2 were not detected in cultures under the assayed conditions. This is the first report carried out on the natural mycobiota occurring in bee pollen in general and on the toxigenic capability of these isolates in particular.

A study of the applicability of a colorimetric biuret procedure for protein determination to a variety of biological preparation has revealed that the practice of using this procedure is undesirable because markedly apparent high values are obtained in this way. In some cases, this interference was mainly due to lipids. Use of suitable controls to account for the interfering opalescence in biuret color measurements considerably improved the method. Conditions affecting the reliability of the procedure are also described. For crude extracts the colorimetric phenol method was found to be more reliable. However, a prior separation of protein by TCA is often advantageous not alone for Kjeldahl analysis but also for colorimetric estimations. The actual chromogenicity of the protein mixtures of different biological extracts studied was found to be comparable to that of the commonly employed standard protein, bovine serum albumin.

This monograph contains: Classification of mycotoxins, Mycotoxins and mycotoxigenic fungi,  Aspegillus toxins, Common toxigenic aspergilli, Penicillium toxins, Description of the most common toxigenic Penicillium, Fusarium toxins , Description of some Fusarium species, Toxins of black fungi, Trichoderma toxins, Mycotoxicoses, Aspergillotoxicosis , Penicillotoxicosis, Fusariotoxicosis  ,  Facial Eczema (Pithomycotoxicosis)  ,Stachybotryotoxicosis , Management of mycotoxins contamination in feed, Detection of aflatoxins ,Prevention of mycotoxin formation, Detoxification of mycotoxins in food and  feedstuffs , Control of  mycotoxins during  food processing , Limits for mycotoxins in foods and feeds, Media , reagent and stains used for isolation , identification , Methods for Isolation, Enumeration and Identification of mycotoxigenic moulds, Determination of mycotoxins  in  feed and food  samples , Identification of fungal isolates  by polymerase chain reaction (PCR),  Rapid detection of mycotoxigenic fungi. T also contains , Synopsis on  studies done by authors on mycotoxigenic fungi and mycotoxins in foods and feeds,:Fungal contamination of meat ,  Fungal contamination of meat products,  Fungal contamination of meat environment , Fungal contamination of feeds and feed ingredients  Mould infection of fresh and smoked fish ,  Mould infection in milk products,  Toxigenicity of moulds isolated from foods and feeds,  Detection of mycotoxins in foods and feeds,  Detection of mycotoxins in diseased birds, animals and  fish Mycotoxins effects on immune and endocrine systems , Miscellaneous studies on mycotoxins, Control of fungal growth and mycotoxins