Sporotrichosis is a chronic infectious disease affecting both humans and animals. For many years, this subcutaneous mycosis had been attributed to a single etiological agent; however, it is now known that this taxon consists of a complex of at least four pathogenic species, including Sporothrix schenckii and Sporothrix brasiliensis. Gp70 was previously shown to be an important antigen and adhes...

Specific oligonucleotide probes were developed to identify medically important fungi that display yeast-like morphology in vivo. Universal fungal primers ITS1 and ITS4, directed to the conserved regions of ribosomal DNA, were used to amplify DNA from Histoplasma capsulatum, Blastomyces dermatitidis, Coccidioides immitis, Paracoccidioides brasiliensis, Penicillium marneffei, Sporothrix schenckii...

Myxin, a relatively new antibacterial and antifungal antibiotic, produced by a species of Sorangium, was used to investigate its effectiveness against some yeasts and dimorphic fungi associated with human diseases. Results indicated that the minimal fungicidal concentrations (MFC) of myxin for Candida albicans, C. krusei, C. parapsilosis, C. tropicalis, and Torulopsis glabrata were 0.39-6.25 mu...

The increasing demand for the development of efficient biocatalysts is a consequence of their broad industrial applications. Typical difficulties that are encountered during their exploitation in a variety of processes are interconnected with factors such as temperature, pH, product inhibitors etc. To eliminate these, research has been directed towards the identification of new enzymes that wou...

The mechanism underlying the action of lignocellulolytic enzymes in biodegradation of lignocellulosic biomass remains unclear; hence, it is crucial to investigate enzymatic interactions involved in the process. In this study, degradation of corn cob by Sporothrix carnis and involvement of lignocellulolytic enzymes in biodegradation were investigated over 240 h cultivation period. About 60% degr...

The microscopic identification of many pathogenic fungi still depends almost wholly upon morphology, especially upon the size, location, and arrangement of individual spores or groups of spores. The usual procedure is to examine teased wet-mount preparations. These have a number of disadvantages, however. The structures depended upon for the recognition of such fungi as Blastomyces dermatitidis...

The biodegradation performance of a biofilter, inoculated with the fungus Sporothrix variecibatus, to treat gas-phase styrene and acetone mixtures under steady-state and transient conditions was evaluated. Experiments were carried out by varying the gas-flow rates (0.05-0.4m(3)h(-1)), leading to empty bed residence times as low as 17.1s, and by changing the concentrations of gas-phase styrene (...