In the course of our screening for antithrombotic compounds using platelet rich plasma from bovine slaughter blood, 2-methoxy-5-methyl-1,4-benzoquinone (1) has been isolated from mycelial cultures of Lentinus adhaerens. The compound inhibits the U46619-induced aggregation of human blood platelets with an IC50 of 2.5 micrograms/ml (16.45 microM) and is a new thromboxane A2 receptor antagonist. T...

The decolorization of industrial dyes was investigated using extracellular enzymes produced by 21 basidiomycetes, mainly edible mushrooms. Among the 27 dyes used in this study, nine were decolorized by over 40%. Most fungi decolorized Acid Orange 20, but they showed different specificities in the case of the other dyes. Determination of activity staining by native polyacrylamide gel electrophor...

Basidiomycete mycelia are ubiquitous in forest soils where they fulfil a range of key ecological functions. Population studies, based largely on basidiome collections, indicate that mycelia of many ectomycorrhizal and saprotrophic basidiomycetes can spread vegetatively for considerable distances through soil, but the extent to which these become physically or physiologically fragmented is uncle...

We report the case of a young man who developed severe asthma a few months after starting work in a factory producing a single type of mushroom: Pleurotus cornucopiae (a basidiomycete). Immunological investigations, performed with material recovered from the filtering devices of the mushroom's bed, led to demonstration of specific IgE and IgG against spore extracts and to isolation of one discr...