Fungal infections, also called mycoses, are important causes of morbidity and mortality in humans. Some fungal infections are endemic, and these infections are usually caused by fungi that are present in the environment and whose spores enter humans. Other fungal infections are said to be opportunistic because the causative agents cause mild or no disease in healthy individuals but may infect a...

Patterns of fungal spore dispersal affect gene flow, population structure and fungal community structure. Many Basidiomycota produce resupinate (crust-like) basidiocarps buried in the soil. Although spores are actively discharged, they often do not appear to be well positioned for aerial dispersal. We investigated the potential spore dispersal mechanisms of one exemplar of this growth form, Tom...

Spore is an asexual reproduction unit of fungi, also often found in plant kingdom. The physics behind spore dispersal of the Basidiomycete fungi or more known as mushroom will be the main focus of our study in this paper. We hypothesize that the spore dispersal is driven by the gravity current under the mushroom cap due to the density difference between the spore air laden and ambient air. Here...

Survival rates of Ascosphaera aggregata and Ascosphaera apis over the course of a year were tested using different storage treatments. For spores, the storage methods tested were freeze-drying and ultra-low temperatures, and for hyphae, freeze-drying, agar slants, and two methods of ultra-low temperatures. Spores of A. aggregata and A. apis stored well at -80 degrees C and after freeze-drying. ...

UNLABELLED   Previously, the author proposed a 'fungal index' that quantifies the capacity for fungal growth in a test environment where a device (fungal detector) encapsulating spores of a xerophilic sensor fungus Eurotium herbariorum was placed. It was also found that an extremely xerophilic fungus, Aspergillus penicillioides, was suitable as a sensor fungus at sites with lower relative humid...

Farmer's lung is a hypersensitivity reaction to fungal spores in mouldy hay, most commonly Micropolyspora faeni. The type of immunological reaction is debated' but a high dose ofantigen is necessary and the inflammation may result from activation of the alternative pathway of complement, linked to a type 3 response. Detection of serum precipitins to fungal antigens is used as a diagnostic aid b...

Building associated illnesses - sick building syndrome (SBS) as a common example - are associated with staying in buildings with poor indoor air quality. The importance of indoor fungal growth in this phenomenon continues to be evident, even though no causative relation has been established so far. Indoor humidity is strongly associated with the symptoms of SBS. Fungal metabolites that may indu...

With an initial microbial level of ca. 10 microorganisms per g of Ivory Coast cacao beans, 5 kGy of gamma radiation under an atmosphere of air reduced the microflora per g by 2.49 and 3.03 logs at temperatures of 35 and 50 degrees C, respectively. Bahia cacao beans were artificially contaminated with dried spores of Aspergillus flavus and Penicillium citrinum, giving initial fungal levels of 1....

The inactivation of spores of Penicillium oxalicum by supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) was optimized by response surface methodology. The optimal inactivation conditions of 16.8 MPa, 49°C, and 20 min were determined using ridge analysis, at which the predicted and experimental log10 reductions were obtained as 5.74 and 6.12, respectively. The synergistic effect of a cosolvent (ethanol), wh...

A method has been developed to measure the DNA content of the fungus, Phialophora gregata. The fluorochrome 4¢,6diamidino-2-phenyl-indoldihydrochloride was used as a stain. Fluorescence intensities were observed under two conditions. The first included fixation of the fungal spores with 70% EtOH and 3:1 EtOH/acetic acid. The second did not include this fixation step. The results of spores that ...