Claviceps purpurea, a fungal pathogen responsible for ergot diseases in many agriculturally important cereal crops, produces high levels of ricinoleic acid (12-hydroxyoctadec-cis-9-enoic acid) in its sclerotia. It has been believed for many years that the biosynthesis of this fatty acid in C. purpurea involves a hydration process with linoleic acid as the substrate. Using degenerate polymerase ...

Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is a necrotrophic, omnivorous plant pathogen with worldwide distribution. Sclerotia of S. sclerotiorum are pigmented, multihyphal structures that play a central role in the life and infection cycles of this pathogen. Calcineurin, a Ser/Thr phosphatase linked to several signal-transduction pathways, plays a key role in the regulation of cation homeostasis, morphogenesis,...

Milled ergot (Claviceps purpurea) sclerotia containing ergotamine (0\m=.\25%),alkaloid-free ergot and alkaloid-free ergot to which ergotamine tartrate had been added were administered to pregnant sheep, either orally or through a ruminal cannula. The daily dosage (administered as three sub-doses) of ergot sclerotia was 0\m=.\4g/kg body weight and, where alkaloid was involved, ergotamine was pre...

The antifungal effect of 10 plant extracts viz., Thevetia peruviana, Ocimum basilicum, Piper betel, Murraya koenigii, Chrysanthemum coronarium, Polyalthia longifolia, Catharanthus roseus, Pelargonium graveolens, Moringa officinalis and Lawsonia inermis were evaluated by poisoned food technique against Rhizoctonia solani Kuhn, the causal organism of sore shin disease of tobacco. Among all the pl...

Polyporus umbellatus is one of the most widely used and precious medicinal fungi and the underground sclerotia are known to be with great medicinal value. However, the molecular mechanisms involved in sclerotial development are poorly understood. In the present study, we constructed a forward suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) cDNA library of Polyporus umbellatus to identify genes expr...

Wheat and its derivatives are a very important staple food for North African populations. The aim of this study was to analyze populations of Aspergillus section Flavi from local wheat based on aflatoxins (AFs), cyclopiazonic acid (CPA) and sclerotia production, and also to evaluate AFs-contaminated wheat collected from two different climatic regions in Algeria. A total of 108 samples of wheat ...

BACKGROUND To investigate the antitumor effect of Inonotus obliquus Pilat, the antiproliferative effect of lanostane triterpenoids from a chloroform extract of I. obliquus sclerotia against mouse leukemia P388 cells was assessed. MATERIALS AND METHODS Cell viability was measured by MTT assay. Caspase-3/7 activity and DNA fragmentation were evaluated to analyze apoptosis induction. The in vivo...

A fungal isolate collected from infected paprika (Capsicum annuum var. grossum) was characterized as Sclerotinia sclerotiorum based on its ability of sclerotium formation, physiological and molecular properties. When the isolate was grown on potato dextrose agar, oatmeal agar, and malt extract agar, it grew most well on PDA. Optimal temperature and pH for its growth were 25℃ and pH 7, respectiv...

The study of the antagonistic activity eleven isolates Trichoderma spp., against four Botrytis cinerea, collected from diseased tomato plants cultivated in greenhouses located on Algiers coast and north-east Sahara. vitro antagonism was compared to fungicidal "PROLEX", widely used by farmers this phytopathogen Algeria. results revealed a complete inhibition sporulation, germination, production ...

The grass parasitic fungus Claviceps purpurea sensu lato produces sclerotia with toxic indole alkaloids. It constitutes several genetic groups with divergent habitat preferences that recently were delimited into separate proposed species. We aimed to 1) analyze genetic variation of C. purpurea sensu lato in Norway, 2) characterize the associated indole alkaloid profiles, and 3) explore relation...