Factors that influence fungal communities in ambrosia beetle mycangia are poorly understood. The beetle that is responsible for spreading laurel wilt in SE USA, Xyleborus glabratrus, was examined at three sites along a 500 km N-S transect in Florida, each populated by host trees in the Lauraceae. Fungal phenotypes were quantified in mycangia of individual females that were collected from a site...

PURPOSE Fusarium solani and F. oxysporum were the causative organisms of the 2005/2006 outbreak of contact lens-associated fungal keratitis in the United States. The present study was an investigation of the ability of F. oxysporum grown as a biofilm on silicone hydrogel contact lenses to induce keratitis. METHODS A clinical isolate of F. oxysporum was grown as a biofilm on lotrafilcon A cont...

Lysine acetylation (Kac) events in filamentous fungi are poorly explored. Here we show a lysine acetylome generated by LC-MS/MS analysis of immunoaffinity-based Kac peptides from normal hyphal cells of Beauveria bassiana, a fungal entomopathogen. The acetylome comprised 283 Kac proteins and 464 Kac sites. These proteins were enriched to eight molecular functions, 20 cellular components, 27 biol...

The results of two experiments with wheat grain inoculated with Penicillium verrucosum are reported. In Experiment I, wheat grain, containing 10, 20 and 30% water, was incubated for 2 weeks at 10, 15, 21 and 28 degrees C. In Experiment II, wheat grain, containing 14, 16, 18, 20 and 22% water, was incubated for 2 weeks at 10, 15, and 20 degrees C. At initial moisture content (IMC) of the wheat g...

This study assessed the effect of disease control agents, fungicides and 2-deoxy-D-glucose (DOG), on a mycotoxin, patulin, production by strains of Penicillium expansum. Fungicides and DOG were added individually to agar on which the fungus was then grown. In an initial screen of six fungicides, three indicated that patulin was stimulated. These were tested further at a range of concentrations ...

In social groups, infections have the potential to spread rapidly and cause disease outbreaks. Here, we show that in a social insect, the ant Lasius neglectus, the negative consequences of fungal infections (Metarhizium brunneum) can be mitigated by employing an efficient multicomponent behaviour, termed destructive disinfection, which prevents further spread of the disease through the colony. ...

Polyandry is often difficult to explain because benefits of the behaviour have proved elusive. In social insects, polyandry increases the genetic diversity of workers within a colony and this has been suggested to improve the resistance of the colony to disease. Here we examine the possible impact of host genetic diversity on parasite evolution by carrying out serial passages of a virulent fung...

Damping off caused by Rhizoctonia solani (isolate AG4) constrains growing soybean in the north Iranian province of Golestan. The pathogen was grown on malt agar containing 0, 50, 100 or 200 ppm trifluralin then its vegetative growth and virulence were evaluated. The response of soybean cv. Williams seedlings grown in soil containing 0, 0.5, 1 and 2 ?g ai g-1 trifluralin was investigated. On mal...

The fungal pathogen Aspergillus sydowii is causing high mortality of sea fan gorgonians Gorgonia ventalina in a Caribbean-wide outbreak. Fungal infection induces a localized band of melanin adjacent to fungal hyphae. We also detected an unidentified parasite that induced a similar melanin band, suggesting that melanization is a generalized response to infection. Although a common mechanism of a...

Mucosal infections with Candida albicans belong to the most frequent forms of fungal diseases. Host protection is conferred by cellular immunity; however, the induction of antifungal immunity is not well understood. Using a mouse model of oropharyngeal candidiasis (OPC) we show that interleukin-1 receptor (IL-1R) signaling is critical for fungal control at the onset of infection through its imp...