Fungal diseases kill more than 1.5 million and affect over a billion people. However, they are still a neglected topic by public health authorities even though most deaths from fungal diseases are avoidable. Serious fungal infections occur as a consequence of other health problems including asthma, AIDS, cancer, organ transplantation and corticosteroid therapies. Early accurate diagnosis allows...

White-nose syndrome has devastated bat populations in eastern North America. In Midwestern United States, prevalence increased quickly in the first year of invasion (2012-13) but with low population declines. In the second year (2013-14), environmental contamination led to earlier infection and high population declines. Interventions must be implemented before or soon after fungal invasion to p...

ABSTRACT Pseudosclerotia were evaluated for differences in timing of apothecium development in four controlled experiments conducted over a 2-year period. In a separate experiment, conidia from 10 randomly selected isolates from both of the fungal populations were used to inoculate open flowers. Germination of pseudosclerotia produced from these artificial inoculations also was evaluated. The t...

Knowledge about the factors restricting reproduction in many rare wetland plant species is limited. One such species is Lobelia boykinii. We conducted a study of L. boykinii to determine which factors most influence its reproductive success. We examined the species' breeding system, population dynamics, degree of pollen limitation, importance of sexual versus asexual reproduction, and the role ...

Recent outbreaks of chytridiomycosis, the disease of amphibians caused by the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), have contributed to population declines of numerous amphibian species worldwide. The devastating impacts of this disease have led researchers to attempt drastic conservation measures to prevent further extinctions and loss of biodiversity. The conservation measures ...

Although the vast majority of biological control agents is generally regarded as safe for humans and environment, the increased exposure of agriculture workers, and consumer population to fungal substances may affect the immune system. Those compounds may be associated with both intense stimulation, resulting in IgE-mediated allergy and immune downmodulation induced by molecules such as cyclosp...

A survey of the fungi isolated from the digestive tract of Panstrongylus megistus (insects vectors from Chagas' disease) used on xenodiagnosis was carried out. Two hundred and fourteen fungal strains were isolated from 180 nymphs. Aspergillus and Penicillium were the most predominant genera and some of their species were new records concerning insects. A great reduction in the fungal population...

for many years, it was thought that nasal polyps are small tumors of the nasal or sinus mucosa. however, it is now believed that nasal polyps are formed as a result of frequent local swelling of nasal or sinus mucosa, which enlarge by increasing sub-mucosal edema and then expose to the air pipe and cause some symptoms. however, the main cause of polyp formation is not exactly understood. the pr...

The recent outbreak of fungal meningitis caused by Exserohilum rostratum in patients receiving contaminated steroid injections resulted in 64 deaths, receiving a lot of press and briefly bringing into the public eye the difficulty of treating systemic fungal infections [1]. What is generally less well appreciated, however, is that there are several other, much more common fungal pathogens that ...

Fungal infections of the liver, most commonly caused by Candida spp., often occur in patients with hematologic malignancies treated with chemotherapy. Colonization of the gastrointestinal tract is thought to be the main origin of dissemination of Candida; mucositis and neutropenia facilitate the spread of Candida from the gastrointestinal tract to the liver. Hepatic involvement due to other fun...