Question: Foundress associations of the desert leaf-cutter ant Acromyrmex versicolor exhibit a single forager-foundress prior to worker eclosion. A prior specialized task, removing soil from the nest during excavation, allocates later forager risk. Experiment reveals that a queen refusing such prior assignment is not replaced by her cofoundresses; rather, these latter suicidally punish the shir...

Aspergillus flavus is a well-known ubiquitous fungus able to contaminate both in pre- and postharvest period different feed and food commodities. During their growth, these fungi can synthesise aflatoxins, secondary metabolites highly hazardous for animal and human health. The requirement of products with low impact on the environment and on human health, able to control aflatoxin production, h...

We are using the facultative hemiparasite, Triphysaria, as a model for studying host-parasite signaling in the Scrophulariaceae. Parasitic members of this family form subterranean connections, or haustoria, on neighboring host roots to access host water and nutrients. These parasitic organs develop in response to haustorial-inducing factors contained in host root exudates. A well-characterized ...

Most studies on molds focus on Alternaria alternata and Aspergillus fumigatus. Here, we report on inflammatory and allergenic properties of more typical indoor species Aspergillus versicolor, P. chrysogenum, C. cladosporioïdes, and C. sphaerospermum that were compared to A. alternata and A. fumigatus. In a mouse model, after intranasal instillation, A. alternaria, A. versicolor, and C. sphaeros...

Biobleaching of hardwood unbleached kraft pulp (UKP) by Phanerochaete chrysosporium and Trametes versicolor was studied in the solid-state fermentation system with different culture media. In this fermentation system with low-nitrogen and high-carbon culture medium, pulp brightness increased by 15 and 30 points after 5 days of treatment with T. versicolor and P. chrysosporium, respectively, and...

Lakkaz, moleküler oksijen kullanarak fenolik bileşikleri yükseltgeyen ve mantarlarda yaygınca bulunan bir enzimdir. Bu çalışmada, Stropharia aeruginosa, Trametes versicolor, Hypholoma fasciculare, Cantharellus cibarius, Clytocibe nebularis Amanita muscaria gibi mantar türlerinin lakkaz aktivitelerinin yanı sıra toplam protein miktarının belirlenmesi kıyaslanması amaçlanmaktadır. Sonuçlar değerl...

BACKGROUND Cost-effective production of industrially important enzymes is a key for their successful exploitation on industrial scale. Keeping in view the extensive industrial applications of lignin peroxidase (LiP), this study was performed to purify and characterize the LiP from an indigenous strain of Trametes versicolor IBL-04. Xerogel matrix enzyme immobilization technique was applied to i...

14C-labeled averufin, versiconal hemiacetal acetate, and versicolorin A were efficiently converted to sterigmatocystin by Aspergillus versicolor, thus providing experimental evidence that these anthraquinones are biosynthetic precursors of sterigmatocystin, a xanthone.