AIMS To determine the possibility of using guar gum, a colloidal polysaccharide, as a cheap alternative to agar for gelling microbial culture media. METHODS AND RESULTS As illustrative examples, 12 fungi and 11 bacteria were cultured on media solidified with either guar gum or agar. All fungi and bacteria exhibited normal growth and differentiation on the media gelled with guar gum. Microscop...

Milk thistle (MT) dietary supplements are widely consumed due to their possible beneficial effect on liver health. As botanicals, they can be contaminated with a variety of fungi and their secondary metabolites, mycotoxins. This study was conducted in an effort to determine the mycological quality of various MT botanical supplements from the US market. Conventional plating methods were used for...

Cellulolytic enzyme preparations active against various forms of cellulose have been reported by a number of investigators who have used a variety of different sources (8). Fungi which have been employed for the preparation of such extracts are Sporotrichum cards (15), Aspergillus oryxae (3,2), Merulius lachrymans (9), and Coniophora cerebella (7), while bacteria have included Bacterium protoxo...

Sanita-kun(R) Yeasts and Molds (SkYM), a novel dry sheet culture method for rapid enumeration of fungi, has been developed. This re-hydrated plate consists of a unique adhesive sheet, non-woven fabric coated with nutrients, antibiotic, water absorption polymer and uniquely synthesized 2-(2-methoxyphenyl)-3-(4-nitrophenyl)-5-phenyl-tetrazolium chloride for rapid enumeration of yeasts and molds. ...

Endophytes are organisms present in the internal tissues living in symbiotic association with plants. These organisms may be used as alternative source of many secondary metabolites production. The present study was conducted to explore the endophytic fungi that colonize the inner tissues of medicinal plant Mimusops elengi L. Out of 100 plant segments of both leaves and twigs of Mimusops elengi...

Lignocellulose is an abundant and renewable resource that holds great promise for sustainable bioprocessing. However, unpretreated lignocellulose is recalcitrant to direct utilization by most microbes. Current methods to overcome this barrier include expensive pretreatment steps to liberate cellulose and hemicellulose from lignin. Anaerobic gut fungi possess complex cellulolytic machinery speci...

This study evaluated three white-rot basidiomycetes for their potential to improve the ruminal degradation of wheat straw. Pleurotus ostreatus (PO), Pleurotus ostreatus-mutant (PO-M) and Trametes gibbosa (TG) were incubated on wheat straw for 30 days at 28 degrees C. Neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), crude protein and in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) were deter...

Cellulolytic enzyme preparations active against various forms of cellulose have been reported by a number of investigators who have used a variety of different sources (8). Fungi which have been employed for the preparation of such extracts are Sporotrichum cards (15), Aspergillus oryxae (3,2), Merulius lachrymans (9), and Coniophora cerebella (7), while bacteria have included Bacterium protoxo...