Biocontrol of Gray Mold
Botrytis cinerea Pers Fr. is an important pathogen on many vegetable crops grown under greenhouse conditions as well as under field conditions. Under high humidity conditions or when free moisture is present on the plant surface, the pathogen infects fruits, flowers, leaves, and stems causing tissue decay. This is followed by prolific sporulation of the pathogen, producing a gray mold appearance. Wounded tissues are especially susceptible to this pathogen. Much of the research activity to...
Substrate Compost Preparation
Substrate preparation technique for the button mushroom has witnessed evolutionary changes over the years, from the long-method of composting to the current environment-friendly indoor composting. However, the intermediate short-method of composting, is still the most popular method all over the world. Long method of composting is the oldest method and now exists only in few pockets of the world mainly because of poor productivity, proneness to attack by the competitors, and also due to more...
Trichoderma As A Biological Control Agent
The potential for the use of Trichoderma species as biocontrol agents was suggested 70 years ago by Weindling 1932 who was the first to demonstrate the parasitic activity of members of this genus towards pathogens such as Rhizoctonia solani Chet 1990 Weindling 1932 . Since then, several species of Trichoderma have been tested as biocontrol agents and have shown to attack a range of economically important aerial and soilborne plant pathogens Chet 1987 . In many experiments, showing successful...
FermentationMass Production
There are potentially three fermentation systems that may be used for mass production of mycoherbicide agents submerged liquid culture, solid substrate fermentation, and two-phase system Auld 1993a . At the industrial level, liquid fermentation is the most common method for economical production of microbial inoculum. Two commercial myco-herbicides, Collego and Devine , are manufactured this way in the United States Churchill 1982 Stowell 1991 . By understanding the importance of nutritional...
References Oho
Abraham WR, Hoffman HMR, Kieslich K, Reng G, and Stumpf G 1985 . Biotransformation of R - limonene by Penicillium digitatum DSM 62840. In Porter R, Clark S eds. Enz Organic Synth Ciba Found Symp 1985. Vol. 111. London Pitman Press. p 146. Abraham WR, Stumpf B, and Kieslich K 1986 . Microbial transformation of terpenoids with 1-p-menthene skeleton. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 24 24-30. Agrawal R and Joseph R 2000a . Optimisation of conditions for the biotransformation of a-pinene to verbenone by a...
Formulation
It is believed that many of the environmental challenges, particularly long dew period or leaf wetness requirements, can be tackled to a large extent with formulation technologies Boyetchko et al. 1999 Greaves et al. 2000 Green et al. 1998 . Formulation is essentially the blending of microbial propagules with a range of carriers or adjuvants to produce a form that can be effectively delivered to target weeds. For microbial agents, formulation may enhance pathogen survival and infection as well...
Benefits Of Mycorrhizal Inoculation
The practical application of mycorrhiza in agriculture is relatively new, though its importance has been evident for some 400 million years. The unique advantage of mycorrhizal organisms is that they not only survive in the most stressful environments but also make the plant to do so. The role of mycorrhiza in land reclamation is most recognized these days. Application of mycorrhizal biofertilizer provides a most desirable solution to many such environmental problems. These...
Mycorrhizal Associations
Mycorrhizal associations include many taxas of fungi belonging to members of Zygomycetes, Ascomycetes and Basidiomycetes and Deutromycetes. A characteristic feature of these fungi is that they are generally widespread in soils, exhibit a strong biotrophic dependence on their host plants, and are rarely free living saprophytes. Different types of mycorrhiza are classified into seven different categories on the basis of the extent of root penetration. Among them arbuscular mycorrhizas are the...
Biocontrol of Powdery Mildews
Powdery mildew fungi are obligate parasites of plants that derive nutrients and water from their host, thereby reducing growth and yield through the acquisition of photosynthates. The fungi penetrate into the epidermis directly and establish a parasitic relationship with the plant host through the formation of haustoria, the nutrient-absorbing structures. Mycelial growth and sporulation occur on the surface of leaves and stems, resulting in a white fuzzy mildew appearance. Over the years,...
Auricularia spp Wood Ear Mushroom
The species of Auricularia, commonly known as wood ear mushroom, are morphologically and, above all, texturally quite distinct from other mushrooms. With typical ear like morphology with cartilaginous texture and gelatinous surface, these are liked as well as disliked at the same time by different people. This mushroom is very popular in China and Southeast Asia but does not seem to attract western consumers. It has been reported to possess many medicinal attributes treatment of piles, sore...
References Xjv
Abbott LA, Bisby FA, and Rogers DJ 1985 . Taxonomic Analysis in Biology. New York Columbia University Press. Alderson G 1985 . The application and relevance of nonhierarchic methods in bacterial taxonomy. In Goodfellow M, Jones D, Priest FG eds. Computer-assisted Bacterial Systematics. London Academic Press. pp 227-263. Ariffin D, Idris AS, and Singh G 2000 . Status of Ganoderma in oil palm. In Flood J, Bridge PD, Holderness M eds. Ganoderma Diseases of Perennial Crops. Wallingford CAB...
Yeast As Probiotics
According to the classical definition probiotic organisms regulate the microbial colonization in the digestive tract with a beneficial effect on human health Gedek 1991 In relation to current and future probiotic products this traditional definition seems to be too narrow Jakobsen and Narvhus 1996 . The definition of a probiotic starter culture should be added a third-dimension, i.e., the extra nutritional-physiological values leading to a more general improvement of human health Kurmann 1993...
Interpretation of Isozyme Banding Patterns in Diploids Dikaryons and Polyploids
Interpretation of isozyme banding patterns in diploids and dikaryons is much more complicated, and is aided by knowing whether a particular enzyme is mono- or multimeric. For monomeric enzymes, homozygous diploid individuals should produce a single band on a gel as described for haploids. Diploid individuals that are heterozygous at a locus for a monomeric enzyme will give two bands in a properly stained isozyme gel following electrophoresis. Each band can be interpreted easily as a different...
Entomopathogenic Fungi
While the focus on the practical use of entomopathogenic fungi has been on biocontrol using whole organisms, either as inoculative or inundative agents Eilenberg et al. 2001 , these fungi are known to produce a number of toxins and enzymes. Some of these extracellular metabolites have been studied with the aim of using them as bioactives against insect pests. This biotechnological approach to utilizing entomo-pathogenic fungi can be demonstrated by the discovery and formulation of spinosyns,...
Fermentation
All technologies developed for industrial scale have the same aims maximal production of desired ergot alkaloids, minimum amount of accompanying contaminants other alkaloids, toxins, etc. , the shortest possible time of fermentation, minimized cost of medium, energy, equipments, and labor. For the production of ergot alkaloids, different fermentation technologies have been employed a stationary cultivation on liquid or solid medium Kybal and Vlcek 1976 Trejo-Hernandez and Lonsane 1993 , b...
Active Formulations
The major microbial products used as feed additives are the two yeast categories approved to maintain their fermentative capacity, active dry yeast 96.2 and yeast culture 96.8 Peppler 1983 Official Publication of Association of American Feed Control Officials 2002 . Active dry yeasts are used as starters in the baking industry and in other traditional fermentation industries where the leavening activity, and ability to ferment different raw materials, is necessary to improve storability, taste...
Screening of Potential Leads from Diverse Microbial Sources
3.2.1 Streptomyces, the Largest Reservoir of Diverse Chemical Structures Actinomycetes have been a major supplier of natural products Huck et al. 1991 Lee and Hwang 2003 . In particular, Streptomyces is a prolific producer of versatile structures of antibiotics. Most of antibiotics developed for agricultural uses including pesticides were isolated from Streptomyces strains Tanaka and Omura 1993 . Among antifungal antibiotics recently discovered from Streptomyces spp., polyketide-spiroketal...
Sources of Antagonists to Nematodes
Just as the biodiversity of the planet is becoming more and more reduced, scientists and the general public are becoming more aware of its importance in practical terms. Microbial biodiversity is little known but even the most humble soil may contain strains of microorganisms with interesting antagonistic properties. In the past, the use of antagonists for biocontrol purposes was restricted to the culturability of the putative organisms detected. Nowadays, in the post-genomic era, our...
Improving Bcpd
The goal of the biocontrol improvement program is to realize the full potential of biological control. This may be accomplished by more extensive strain selection of the same antagonist species, as indicated earlier in the case of M. pulcherrima, by manipulating antagonists and or their environment, and by applying the antagonists before harvest in addition to one after harvest. Postharvest application of the antagonists mixture of P. syringae and S. roseus Janisiewicz and Bors 1995 , and C....
References 1
Andersen B, Nielsen KF, and Jarvis BB 2002 . Characterisation of Stachybotrys from water-damaged buildings based on morphology, growth and metabolite production. Mycologia 94 392-403. Berkel GJV 2000 . Electrolytical deposition of metals on the highvoltage contact in an electrospray emitter implications for gas-phase ion formation. J Mass Spectrom 35 773-783. Christophersen C 1996 . Theory of the origin, function, and evolution of secondary metabolites. In Atta-ur-Rahman ed. Studies in Natural...
Legumebased Fermented Foods
Legumes are used for food production mainly in Asia. Fermentation improves digestibility of legumes by hydro-lyzing proteins, and breaking down antinutritional molecules like trypsin inhibitors. a Tempe Tempeh Kedele This is a fermented soybean-based food, popular with American vegetarians and also available in Canada, the West Indies, Holland, Indonesia, and Malaysia. It is supplied in the form of a white, moldy cake. The beans are cleaned, soaked, dehulled, partially cooked, drained,...
Related Products
Although there is a high variety of microbial protein formulations which can be used as food ingredients, apart from the major Quorn mycoprotein example a number of Figure 3 Electron micrograph of F. venenatum A3 5 as collected from the outlet of the Quorn fermenter, illustrating the filamentous nature of mycoprotein, Courtesy P. Collins, Marlow Foods, UK . mycoprotein products are accepted and being used directly as food for human consumption FDA, http www.fda.gov Haiasz and Lasztity 1991 ....
Industrial Production of Ergot Alkaloids
The overall word annual production of ergot alkaloids was estimated at about 20,000 kg Cvak 1999 in which the production of ergopeptines and their dihydroderivatives forms less then one third. The rest of the production is Figure 4 General structure of ergopeptines. Figure 4 General structure of ergopeptines. concentrated on production of lysergic acid and other precursors of semisynthetic ergot preparations lysergol, elymoclavine, ergine, and other simple derivatives of lysergic acid . In the...
Mycoprotein Production Quorn Products
In order to ensure that Quorn is produced according to approved health regulations, the fermentation process is currently supported on glucose nearly all of which is obtained from maize and approved inorganic medium constituents and vitamins. However, the process may also be applied with various sources of starch as the carbon source Figure 2 Diagramatic representation of the Quorn air-lift fermenter used by Marlow Foods for the production of mycoprotein in continuous flow culture, Courtesy P....
Proteolytic Activity
Published results on the proteolytic activity of yeast isolated from dairy products are mainly based upon the ability to produce a clearing zone in casein and skim milk agar. It has been demonstrated Hansen and Jakobsen 2001 Larsen et al. 1998 that the agar diffusion tests may not offer the sensitivities required to detect proteolytic activity. Methods such as gelelectrophoresis, high performance liquid chroma-tography HPLC , or capillary electrophoresis CE give a different and more detailed...
References Oqo
Anderson C, Longton J, Maddix C, Scammell GW, and Solomons GL 1975 . The growth of microfungi on carbohydrates. In Tannenbaum SR, Wang DIC eds. Single Cell Protein. Cambridge MIT Press. pp 314-329. Anonymous 1975 . 5th meeting PAG ad hoc working group on clinical evaluation and acceptable nucleic acid level of single cell protein for human consumption. PAG Bull 5 17-26. Anonymous 1983a . PAG UNU guideline No. 6 Preclinical testing of novel sources of food. Food Nutr Bull 5 60-63. Anonymous...
Pleurotus spp Oyster Mushrooms
Unlike most of the cultivated mushrooms, which represent one species, a group of species of the genus Pleurotus are commercially cultivated and referred commonly as oyster mushrooms. Pleurotus ostreatus Jack. ex.Fr. Kummer, is best known species among oyster mushrooms and the specific epithet oyster obviously refers to its Oyster-shell like appearance of the fruitbodies. Pleurotus spp. are most versatile of all the mushrooms, representing about fifteen species capable of growing over a wide...
AnimalParasitic Nematodes
There is a large group of nematodes parasitizing both invertebrates and vertebrates. A number of insect-parasitic nematodes, e.g., Steinernema spp., are being developed and commercially used for biological control of plant-parasitic Figure 1 Interactions amongst plant roots, plant-parasitic nematodes, and nemaphagous fungi. A An ectoparasitic nematode is free living and feeds externally on plant roots by piercing the root surface with its stylet to obtain nutrients. B A sedentary endoparasitic...
Mechanisms of Plant Growth Promotion by PGPF
Several hypotheses have been put forward for the mechanisms of plant growth promotion by PGPF, including a hormone production, b substrate degradation mineralization , and c suppression of deleterious microorganisms. Culture filtrates of certain fungal species promote plant growth, due to the production of plant growth hormones by these fungi Ram 1959 . Growth promotion has been seen in some plants after treatment with mycelial exudates from PGPF strains of Trichoderma and SRF, and a...
FungusNematode Interactions
Arthrobotrys oligospora forms so-called adhesive network traps on which vermiform nematodes are captured. The formation of traps in this fungus is induced chemically by Figure 3 Top figures show infection of nematode egg by the egg parasite Pochonia sp. Germling of the fungus forms an appressorium after contact with the egg surface left . An adhesive is formed and the fungus penetrates the egg shell, grows inside the egg, and digests its contents. Bottom figures illustrates capture and...
Spawn Production
The term spawn is used for vegetative growth of mushroom mycelium on a suitable medium, to be used as inoculum or seed for the substrate in mushroom cultivation. Right kind and quality of spawn is very important in the cultivation of edible fungi. The technique of spawn preparation witnessed many developments before Sinden developed the currently used grain spawn on hard winter rye grain after addition of calcium salts and patented the process in 1932 and 1937. However, wheat grain is now most...
Volvariella spp Paddy Straw Mushroom
Volvariella is a mushroom of the tropics and subtropics it grows at a relatively high temperature of around 35 C. This is a very fast growing mushroom, it takes about 10 days from spawning to first harvesting, is easiest to cultivate with a cropping cycle of 3 weeks but does not give good economic yields and its shelf-life is poorest of all mushrooms. Understandably, its production in 1997 was only 0.18 million tonnes and it contributed only 3 to the world mushroom production while its share...
CellWall Biosynthesis
Fungal cell wall is a crucial target for antifungal agents. Enzymes responsible for the biosynthesis of fungal cell wall include chitin and glucan synthases Douglas et al. 1997 Georgopapadakou 1997 . Antifungal agent echinocandins have been discovered as inhibitors of fungal cell wall biosynthesis Denning 1997 . They are noncompetitive inhibitors of b-1,3-glucan synthase, an enzyme complex in the cell wall of many pathogenic fungi. b-1,3-Glucan synthase is a fungal specific enzyme that...
References Mrd
Agrios GN 1997 . Plant Pathology. San Diego Academic Press. Ahman J, Ek B, Rask L, and Tunlid A 1996 . Sequence analysis and regulation of a gene encoding a cuticle-degrading serine protease from the nematophagous fungus Arthrobotrys oligospora. Microbiology 142 1605-1616. Anke A, Stadler M, Mayer A, and Sterner O 1995 . Secondary metabolites with nematicidal and antimicrobial activity from nematophagous fungi and Ascomycetes. Can J Bot 73 932-939. Barron GL 1977 . The Nematode-Destroying...
Foodborne Fungal Pathogens And Mycotoxins
It is estimated that some 400 fungi and many of the phytopathogenic ones reduce or threaten the availability and safety of food. From the above, at least 20 are confirmed producers of food related mycotoxins and antinutrients see this volume, Chapter 6 . Many vegetables, fruits, and seeds lose their nutritive and other qualitative values due to loss of moisture, infection with spoilage microorganisms, and senescence. These types of wastage can occur during transport, handling, and...
List of Producers and Formulators of Commercial AM Inoculum
These bio-inoculants are now formulated in different formulations. These are designed on the basis of their application to different crops and locations. They are available in the form of powders, tablets pellets, gel beads, and balls. Intraradical forms of Glomus sp. vesicles and mycelium fragments were entrapped in alginate and used as inocula. Isolated intraradical material was found to regenerate in alginate beads and the regenerated mycelium infected roots under controlled conditions...
In Agriculture Annual Crop Losses Due To Pre- And Post Harvest Fungal Diseases
The study of fungal biotechnology is proceeding at an unprecedented rate with an array of new tools to generate a wealth of disciplines and subdisciplines. By means of modern biotechnology, fungi have justified their practical application to varied domains of human enterprise, and thus promise considerable potential in the agricultural, food, and environmental spheres. The successful application of fungal biotechnological processes in these areas requires the integration of a number of...
Root Organ Culture Technique
The ROC system is the most attractive cultivation methodology for research it uses root-inducing transfer-DNA-transformed roots of a host plant to develop the symbiosis on a specific medium in vitro Becard and Fortin 1988 . The pathogenic condition known as hairy root occurs due to the transfer of root inducing Ri-plasmid from the bacterium Agrobacterium rhizogenes Schenck 1992 . These techniques, though challenging have proved useful additions to our knowledge for various aspects of the AM...
References Kuc
Abbasi PA, Miller SA, Meulia T, Hoitink JA, and Kim J-M 1999 . Precise detection and tracing of Trichoderma hamatum 382 in compost-amended potting mixes by using molecular markers. Appl Environ Microbiol 65 5421-5426. Adams PB and Fravel DR 1990 . Economical biological control of Sclerotinia lettuce drop by Sporidesmium sclerotivorum. Phytopathology 80 1121-1124. Ahmed AS, Perez-Sanchez C, Egea C, and Candela ME 1999 . Evaluation of Trichoderma harzianum for controlling root rot caused by...
Structure
The ergot alkaloids constitute the largest known group of nitrogenous fungal metabolites and over 80 alkaloids have been isolated from diverse natural material. The common part of chemical structure of the most ergot alkaloids is a tetra-cyclic ergoline ring system Figure 1 , which is biosynthe-sized from tryptophan Taber and Vining 1959 , and mevalonic acid Groger et al. 1961 . The ergot alkaloids can be separated into three main structural groups a clavine alkaloids, b simple lysergic and...
Sterol Biosynthesis
The biosynthesis of sterols is an essential metabolism that produce essential constituents of cellular membranes. Most of fungi contain ergosterol as a predominant sterol Mercer 1991 . Recent advances in our understanding of mode of action of sterol biosynthesis inhibitors SBI launched a novel approach to finding inhibitors of sterol biosynthesis, which could lead to new agricultural fungicides Barrett-Bee and Ryder 1992 . The antifungal effects of SBI have brought out a great commercial...
Technological Factors
The feasibility of commercializing bioherbicide agents has often been dependent on the ease and economics of mass-producing and formulating large amounts of viable, stable, and highly efficacious microbial propagules Auld and Morin 1995 Mortensen 1998 Slininger et al. 1998 . It is generally believed that submerged liquid fermentation is the most efficient commercial mass-production method for most biocontrol agents Jackson et al. 1996 . Although general guidelines or common fermentation...
Future Trends In Biofungicide Research
During the last two decades, there were numerous efforts focusing on the isolation and identification of a wide range of biologically active natural products. As a result, hundreds of thousands to millions of compounds became available for the evaluation of their value as potential lead compounds. The concept of a HTS was developed to screen a large number of chemical libraries, which overcome the limitation of conventional in vitro and in vivo assay. The HTS is made possible by the advance in...
Status Of Bioherbicides
Several recent reviews have provided an overview on various bioherbicide projects being conducted around the globe Boyetchko 1999 Boyetchko et al. 2002 Charudattan 2001 Rosskopf et al. 1999 . Eight bioherbicides have been registered in various countries over the last two decades with several other microbial candidates in various stages of evaluation and development Table 1 . Devine and Collego , the first mycoherbicides registered in the United States are currently marketed by Encore...
Mycoparasites As Biocontrol Agents of Seedling Root Crown and Vascular Wilt
Nonpathogenic fungi can act as mycoparasites, as exemplified by P. oligandrum, P. nunn, and P. periplocum, which are mycoparasitic on other species of Pythium and can reduce pathogen infection levels and reduce disease Berry et al. 1993 McQuilken et al. 1992 Paulitz and Baker 1987 . Other mycoparasitic fungi include Stachybotrys elegans and Verticillium biguttatum affecting R. solani van den Boogert and Velvis 1994 Tweddell et al. 1995 , Coniothyrium minitans on Sporidesmium sclerotiorum Budge...
Mycorrhiza
As a definition of mycorrhizae, Smith and Read 1997 proposed a symbiosis in which an external mycelium of a fungus supplies soil derived nutrients to a plant root. Mycorrhizae are further divided into six types based on anatomical characteristics, which are a arbuscular mycor-rhizae AM , b ectomycorrhizae, c orchid mycorrhizae, d ericoid mycorrhizae, e monotropoid mycorrhizae, and f arbutoid mycorrhizae. Some plants have requirement for mycorrhizae in order to complete their life cycle....
Saprophytic Cultivation of Claviceps 521 History
The first saprophytic cultivation of Claviceps on artificial nutritional media dates back to 1922 Bonns 1922 . The first attempt for the industrial production of ergot alkaloids was isolation of clavine alkaloids from submerged cultures of different Claviceps spp. Abe and Yamatodani 1954 1955 Abe et al. 1952 1956 . Later, conditions for saprophytic production of simple derivatives of lysergic acid were developed using different strains of C. paspali Arcamone et al. 1960 1961 . It took only 5...
References Iin
Abe M and Yamatodani S 1954 . Isolation of two further water-soluble ergot alkaloids. Bull Agric Chem Soc Jpn 18 501-502. Abe M and Yamatodani S 1955 . A new water-soluble ergot alkaloid, molliclavine. Bull Agric Chem Soc Jpn 19 161 -162. Abe M, Yamano T, Kozu Y, and Kusumoto M 1952 . A new water-soluble ergot alkaloid, elymoclavine. J Agric Chem Soc 25 458-459. Abe M, Yamatodani S, Yamano T, and Kusumoto M 1956 . Isolation of two new water-soluble alkaloids pyroclavine and costaclavine. Bull...
Enzyme Activity Staining
Once the proteins have been separated on a gel, a set of staining protocols must be followed to reveal the isozymes. Specific enzyme activity staining is what makes isozyme analysis possible. Recipes and techniques for staining hundreds of enzyme activities are provided in numerous compilations Micales et al. 1986 Selander et al. 1971 Shaw and Prasad 1970 Soltis et al. 1983 and are beyond the purview of this chapter. However, a brief description of the major types of staining systems is...
Contributors
Alok Adholeya The Energy and Resources Institute, New Delhi, India Renu Agrawal Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore, India David Aldred Cranfield University, Bedford, United Kingdom Michael F. Allen Center for Conservation Biology, University of California, Riverside, California, USA Dilip K. Arora Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India S. C. Baker School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Birkbeck College, London, United Kingdom Warren L. Baker Environment and...