Botrytis cinerea – mycolab.ai

Endophytic Beauveria spp. Enhance Tomato Growth and Resistance to Botrytis cinerea via Transcriptomic Regulation

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Researchers tested five types of beneficial fungi from the Beauveria genus to see if they could help tomato plants grow better and resist gray mold disease. They found that all five species could live inside tomato plants and help them grow taller. Most importantly, the fungus Beauveria brongniartii completely protected plants from gray mold infection. By examining which genes were activated in the plants, scientists discovered that these fungi boost the plant’s natural defense systems while also improving photosynthesis.

Harnessing the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae for the production of fungal secondary metabolites

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Scientists have learned to use common baker’s yeast (S. cerevisiae) as a biological factory to produce valuable medicines and compounds that naturally come from fungi and mushrooms. By transferring the genetic instructions for making these compounds into yeast cells and improving them with genetic engineering, researchers can now produce therapeutically important substances like cancer-fighting drugs and antibiotics in large quantities. This approach is more practical and cost-effective than trying to extract these rare compounds directly from their native fungal sources or using other production methods.

Advancing automated identification of airborne fungal spores: guidelines for cultivation and reference dataset creation

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Researchers developed standardized procedures to grow fungal spores in laboratories and prepare them for testing with automated detection devices. They tested 17 different fungal species commonly found in the air and created reference datasets to train computer algorithms to identify these spores. Two different detection technologies were evaluated, showing promising accuracies (55-95%) for identifying various fungal spores. This work provides a blueprint for other scientists to create reliable training data for automated air quality monitoring systems that track allergens and disease-causing fungi.

Fungal Argonaute proteins act in bidirectional cross-kingdom RNA interference during plant infection

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Scientists discovered that fungi and plants exchange genetic instructions called small RNAs to control each other during infection. A fungal pathogen called Botrytis cinerea uses special proteins called Argonautes to deliver these instructions into plant cells, which helps the fungus cause disease. Plants also send back their own genetic instructions to defend themselves. Understanding these molecular communications could lead to new ways to protect crops from fungal diseases.

Miniaturized high-throughput conversion of fungal strain collections into chemically characterized extract libraries for antimicrobial discovery

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Scientists developed a fast, automated method called FLECS-96 to screen hundreds of fungal species for antimicrobial compounds in a small 96-well plate format. The method combines fungal culture, chemical extraction, and analysis to identify promising candidates against resistant bacteria like Staphylococcus aureus. The team successfully identified two bioactive compounds from the fungi tested. This innovation could significantly speed up the discovery of new antibiotics to combat antibiotic-resistant infections.

Effects and molecular mechanism of endophytic elicitors on the accumulation of secondary metabolites in medicinal plants

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This review explains how beneficial fungi living inside medicinal plants can boost the production of healing compounds. These endophytic fungi act as natural triggers that activate the plant’s own defense systems, causing it to produce more of the valuable medicinal substances used in traditional and modern medicine. By understanding how this process works, scientists can develop better methods to grow medicinal plants and produce natural drugs more sustainably without depleting wild plant populations.

Impact of Oxalic Acid Consumption and pH on the In Vitro Biological Control of Oxalogenic Phytopathogen Sclerotinia sclerotiorum

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This research shows how bacteria can protect crops from a destructive fungus called Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. While scientists previously thought the bacteria worked by eating the toxic acid produced by the fungus, this study reveals that the bacteria also make the environment more alkaline (less acidic), which the fungus cannot tolerate. The combination of both effects—consuming the acid and changing the pH—is what actually stops the fungus from growing and damaging crops.

Composition and Biodiversity of Culturable Endophytic Fungi in the Roots of Alpine Medicinal Plants in Xinjiang, China

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Scientists studied special fungi that live inside the roots of two rare alpine medicinal plants found in China’s high mountains. They discovered that these plants host over 400 different types of fungi, including a special type called dark septate fungi that make up about half of all the fungi found. Different plant species and different mountain locations had different combinations of fungi, suggesting these fungi help the plants survive in the harsh, cold mountain environment.

Superhydrophobic Fatty Acid-Based Spray Coatings with Dual-Mode Antifungal Activity

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Researchers developed special water-repellent coatings made from natural fatty acids that can prevent fungal infections. These coatings work in two ways: they physically prevent fungi from sticking to surfaces through their bumpy structure, and they chemically kill fungi that do land on them. The coatings can be easily sprayed on like paint and offer an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional antifungal treatments that are becoming less effective.

A root-based N-hydroxypipecolic acid standby circuit to direct immunity and growth of Arabidopsis shoots

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Plants communicate with their shoots through chemical signals produced in their roots when soil microorganisms are present. Researchers discovered that a molecule called N-hydroxypipecolic acid acts like an on-off switch controlled by two proteins, FMO1 and UGT76B1. Beneficial fungi suppress the ‘off’ switch, allowing this signal to travel to leaves where it boosts immunity against disease. Different amounts of this signal have different effects: small amounts help the plant grow, while large amounts strengthen defenses but slow growth.

Fungal Species: Botrytis cinerea