Endophytic fungi – mycolab.ai

Soil polluted system shapes endophytic fungi communities associated with Arundo donax: a field experiment

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Mining activities pollute soils with heavy metals and red mud waste, damaging ecosystems and making plant growth difficult. This study examined fungi living inside the roots of Arundo donax, a hardy plant that survives in polluted soils, grown in three soil types: clean, heavy metal-contaminated, and red mud-contaminated. The researchers found that fungal communities changed based on the type of pollution, with a fungus called Pleosporales sp. thriving in red mud and showing promise for helping clean up contaminated soils. This research suggests that understanding these beneficial fungi could improve strategies for using plants to remediate polluted environments.

Innovative fungal bioagents: producing siderophores, IAA, and HCN to support plants under salinity stress and combat microbial plant pathogens

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Scientists discovered two beneficial fungi that help wheat plants survive in salty soil and resist diseases. These fungi work by producing growth-promoting substances and natural compounds that fight harmful plant pathogens. When used to treat wheat seeds, these fungi significantly improved plant growth even under high salt stress conditions, offering a natural alternative to chemical fertilizers and pesticides for farming in salt-affected areas.

Production, optimization and characterization of esterase isolated from a new endophytic Trichoderma afroharzianum strain AUMC 16,433 and its applications in dye decolorization

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Scientists discovered a new type of fungus that produces an enzyme capable of breaking down synthetic dyes used in the textile industry. Using statistical optimization techniques, they enhanced the enzyme’s production and purified it to study its properties. The enzyme successfully removed various industrial dyes from solutions, with the highest effectiveness on malachite green dye. This discovery offers a promising natural solution to reduce environmental pollution caused by textile dye wastewater.

Isolation and Identification of Pigment-Producing Endophytic Fungi from the Amazonian Species Fridericia chica

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Scientists discovered nine types of fungi living inside an Amazonian plant called crajiru that produce colorful pigments. One fungus called Hypoxylon investiens stood out for producing a red pigment with strong antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. This discovery could help replace synthetic dyes in food and cosmetics with natural alternatives from fungi, which are easier and cheaper to produce than extracting pigments from plants.

Biostimulant and Bioinsecticidal Effect of Coating Cotton Seeds with Endophytic Beauveria bassiana in Semi-Field Conditions

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Researchers coated cotton seeds with a beneficial fungus called Beauveria bassiana to improve plant growth and reduce insect pests. The treated cotton plants grew taller, had more leaves, and accumulated more biomass than untreated plants. Additionally, these coated seeds significantly reduced populations of aphids that naturally infested the plants, offering a chemical-free approach to pest management for cotton farming.

Revitalization of the Endophytic Fungus Acremonium sp. MEP2000 and Its Impact on the Growth and Accumulation of Bioactive Compounds in Inonotus obliquus

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Researchers successfully revived a beneficial fungus called Acremonium sp. MEP2000 that had lost its effectiveness through repeated cultivation by adding birch bark powder and medicinal mushroom powder to its growth medium. When used to treat the medicinal fungus Inonotus obliquus (chaga), this revitalized fungal culture dramatically improved the growth and production of healthy bioactive compounds like polysaccharides and triterpenoids. This breakthrough offers a practical solution for large-scale production of medicinal fungi with enhanced therapeutic potential for treating cancer, diabetes, and inflammatory conditions.

Genomic insights reveal community structure and phylogenetic associations of endohyphal bacteria and viruses in fungal endophytes

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Fungi living inside healthy plant leaves contain communities of bacteria and viruses. Researchers studied these microbial passengers in fungi from American beech leaves and found that bacteria show patterns of preference for specific fungal types, while viruses are less diverse and mostly DNA-based rather than RNA-based. Understanding these microbial relationships helps explain how fungi interact with plants and could potentially improve biological control strategies.

Endophytic fungi isolated from Vietnamese nut grass (Cyperus rotundus L. Cyperaceae) – A promising solution to mitigate the prime phenomenon of antibiotic resistance

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Scientists discovered seven types of fungi living inside nut grass plants that can fight dangerous bacteria, including those resistant to current antibiotics. These fungi showed strong ability to kill drug-resistant staph bacteria and other serious pathogens. The findings suggest that these naturally-occurring fungi could be developed into new antibiotics to treat infections that currently have limited treatment options.

Draft genome sequences of five endophytic fungi isolated from Lactuca serriola, a wild relative of cultivated lettuce

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Researchers sequenced the genomes of five fungal species found living inside wild lettuce plants collected in Arizona. These endophytic fungi can potentially improve the growth and disease resistance of cultivated lettuce. The study identified genetic clusters that produce compounds similar to known natural products, which could affect how these fungi interact with plants. This genomic information provides a foundation for future research into using these beneficial fungi as natural inoculants for improving lettuce crops.

Arsenic Stress Resistance in the Endophytic Fungus Cladosporium cladosporioides: Physiological and Transcriptomic Insights into Heavy Metal Detoxification

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A special fungus called Cladosporium cladosporioides, found living inside the roots of Gentiana yunnanensis (a traditional Chinese medicine herb), can tolerate extremely high levels of arsenic. Researchers discovered that this fungus protects itself from arsenic poisoning by storing arsenic mostly in its cell walls, converting toxic arsenic into less harmful forms, and activating its antioxidant defense systems. This discovery could help reduce arsenic contamination in medicinal herbs and lead to new methods for cleaning arsenic-polluted soil.

Research Keyword: Endophytic fungi