Three new fungal species of the genus Mortierella, Mortierella zychae, Mortierella ambigua, and Mortierella indohii, have been reported in Korea. The fungi were encountered during a study on the fungal community of soil samples collected from different locations in Korea. The species were identified based on molecular and morphological analyses. This study presents detailed descriptions of the ...

A new recorded species of Mortierella was recovered during the investigation of fungal communities in soil samples collected from different locations of Gangwon-do, Korea. The species was identified and described as Mortierella alpina on the basis of phylogenetic analysis of internal transcribed spacer sequences and morphological characteristics. This species has not been officially reported fr...

Mortierella sp. has been known to produce polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) such as GLA and AA under normal growth medium conditions. Similarly, under the stress condition, this fungus produces EPA and DHA in their mycelial biomass. Among the 67 soil samples screened from the Western Ghats of India, 11 Mortierella isolates showed the presence of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acid, mainly GLA, AA,...

Microbial pesticide degradation studies have until now mainly focused on bacteria, although fungi have also been shown to degrade pesticides. In this study we clarify the background for the ability of the common soil fungus Mortierella to degrade the phenylurea herbicide diuron. Diuron degradation potentials of five Mortierella strains were compared, and the role of carbon and nitrogen for the ...

After preliminary screening, Mortierella alpina and Mortierella elongata were compared with respect to arachidonic acid content. M. alpina ATCC 16266 produced 2.1 g of arachidonic acid per liter in media containing 10% glucose while the highest percentage of arachidonic acid in lipid (43.3%) was observed at a glucose concentration of 2%. Arachidonic acid content in lipids increased to 66% durin...

We investigated the degradation pathways and kinetics of 2,4-dichlorophenol (DCP) by an endemic soil fungus, Mortierella sp. (Zygomycetes). Mortierella sp. degraded 32% of added DCP (final concentration, 250 microM) within 1 h. We identified four aromatic metabolites and found two DCP degradation pathways (a hydroxylation pathway and a dechlorination pathway). This is the first report of a dech...

Following a request from the European Commission, the Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) was asked to deliver a scientific opinion on the safety of ‘fungal oil from Mortierella alpina’. The product, referred to as Fungal Oil SUN-TGA40S, is an arachidonic acid-rich oil obtained by fermentation from the fungus Mortierella alpina and is...

We report the draft genome sequence of Mortierella alpina isolate CDC-B6842. M. alpina is a nonpathogenic member of the Mucoromycotina subphylum of fungi that is an important model for understanding the molecular mechanisms of lipid production and metabolism.

The fungus Mortierella elongata FMR23-6 harbors an endobacterium inside its mycelium. Attempts to isolate the endobacterium from the fungus were not yet successful, but a highly purified bacterial fraction was prepared. Here, we report the draft genome sequence of the endobacterium.

In a continuation of studies started by de Ruiter et al. (1993), all known species of the Mortierella isabellina-group (Micromucor/Umbelopsis clade of O'Donnell et al. 2001) and a few other Mucorales and species of Mortierella were investigated by RFLP (including ITS1, 5.8S, ITS2 and the 5' end of the large subunit rDNA gene) and ITS1 sequence analyses. This monophyletic group is unrelated to M...