Phylogeny and Taxonomical Investigation of Trichoderma spp. from Indian Region of Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hot Spot Region with Special Reference to Manipur

Towards assessing the genetic diversity and occurrence of Trichoderma species from the Indian region of Indo-Burma Biodiversity hotspot, a total of 193 Trichoderma strains were isolated from cultivated soils of nine different districts of Manipur comprising 4 different agroclimatic zones. The isolates were grouped based on the morphological characteristics. ITS-RFLP of the rDNA region using three restriction digestion enzymes: Mob1, Taq1, and Hinf1, showed interspecific variations among 65 isolates of Trichoderma. Based on ITS sequence data, a total of 22 different types of representative Trichoderma species were reported and phylogenetic analysis showed 4 well-separated main clades in which T. harzianum was found to be the most prevalent spp. among all the Trichoderma spp. Combined molecular and phenotypic data leads to the development of a taxonomy of all the 22 different Trichoderma spp., which was reported for the first time from this unique region. All these species were found to produce different extrolites and enzymes responsible for the biocontrol activities against the harmful fungal phytopathogens that hamper in food production. This potential indigenous Trichoderma spp. can be targeted for the development of suitable bioformulation against soil and seedborne pathogens in sustainable agricultural practice

Nutritional Profiling and Antioxidant Property of Three Wild Edible Mushrooms from North East India

The mushroom is an important food for the rural tribal populations in Manipur, because of its high nutritional contents. In this study, we report on the nutritional profile of three wild edible mushrooms consumed by the tribal populations of Manipur viz.: Macrocybe gigantea J124; Lactifluus leptomerus J201 and Ramaria thindii J470. The studied mushrooms possess a high protein content of 37.6%, 20.8% and 16.4%, respectively. They have a high vitamin C content with low vitamin B1, B2 and folic acid. Among the three mushrooms, M. gigantea J124 possesses the highest mineral content, followed by R. thindii J470 and L. leptomerus J201. The total phenolic content of L. leptomerus J201, M. gigantea J124 and R. thindii J470 were 26.206, 29.23 and 30.99 mg GAE/g, with flavonoid content of 6.646, 6.854 and 9.187 mg quercetin/g, respectively. R. thindii J470 has the highest TPC and TFC content, which correlates with its DPPH radical scavenging activity. The IC50 values for R. thindii J470, M. gigantea J124 and L. leptomerus J201 are 242.0 µg/mL, 550.4 µg/mL and 689.0 µg/mL, respectively, which suggest that the higher content of phenolic compounds in R. thindii J470 contributes to its radical scavenging properties

Data from: Invasion of Solanum tuberosum L. by Aspergillus terreus: a microscopic and proteomics insight on pathogenicity

Background: Aspergillus terreus is one of the most harmful filamentous fungal pathogen of humans, animals and plants. Recently, researchers have discovered that A. terreus can cause foliar blight disease in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.). We used light and scanning electron microscopy, and performed proteomics analysis in an attempt to dissect the invasion process of A. terreus in this important crop. Results: Microscopic study revealed that invasion of leaf tissue is marked by rapid germination of A. terreus phialidic conidia (PC) by 4 h after inoculation. By 8 h after inoculation, primary germ tubes from PC differentiated into irregular protuberance, often displayed stomata atropism, and failed to penetrate via the epidermal cells. Colonization of leaf tissues was associated with high rate of production of accessory conidia (AC). These analyses showed the occurrence of a unique opposing pattern of AC, tissue-specific and produced on melanized colonizing hyphae during the infection of leaf tissue. A significant proteome change hallmarked by differential expression of class I patatin, lipoxygenase, catalase-peroxidase complex, and cysteine proteinase inhibitor were observed during tuber colonization. These proteins are often involved in signal transduction pathways and crosstalk in pathogenic responses. Conclusion: A. terreus abundantly produced AC and multipolar germinating PC to invade potato leaf tissue. Additionally, A. terreus differentially induced enzymes in potato tuber during colonization which facilitates rapid disease development

Host-Range Dynamics of Cochliobolus lunatus: From a Biocontrol Agent to a Severe Environmental Threat

We undertook an investigation to advance understanding of the host-range dynamics and biocontrol implications of Cochliobolus lunatus in the past decade. Potato (Solanum tuberosum L) farms were routinely surveyed for brown-to-black leaf spot disease caused by C. lunatus. A biphasic gene data set was assembled and databases were mined for reported hosts of C. lunatus in the last decade. The placement of five virulent strains of C. lunatus causing foliar necrosis of potato was studied with microscopic and phylogenetic tools. Analysis of morphology showed intraspecific variations in stromatic tissues among the virulent strains causing foliar necrosis of potato. A maximum likelihood inference based on GPDH locus separated C. lunatus strains into subclusters and revealed the emergence of unclustered strains. The evolving nutritional requirement of C. lunatus in the last decade is exhibited by the invasion of vertebrates, invertebrates, dicots, and monocots. Our results contribute towards a better understanding of the host-range dynamics of C. lunatus and provide useful implications on the threat posed to the environment when C. lunatus is used as a mycoherbicide

Grappling the High Altitude for Safe Edible Bamboo Shoots with Rich Nutritional Attributes and Escaping Cyanogenic Toxicity

Consumption of bamboo species with high level of total cyanogenic content (TCC) in Asia by many ethnic groups is significantly associated with food poisoning and occasionally Konzo (a neurological disorder). Adequate characterization of edible bamboo species with low level of TCC and high nutritious attributes is required for consumer’s safety as well as for the conservation of the gene pool. Here, we employed morphological descriptors, atomic absorption spectrophotometer, RAPD, and trnL-F intergenic spacer to characterize 15 indigenous edible bamboo species of north-east India. The study indicates that morphologically and genetically evolved edible bamboo species having large and robust bamboo-shoot texture and growing at low altitude contain high level of TCC, low antioxidant properties, and low levels of beneficial macronutrients and micronutrients. Importantly, Dendrocalamus species are shown to be rich in TCC irrespective of the growing altitude while Bambusa species are found to have moderate level of TCC. The findings clearly demonstrated that Chimonobambusa callosa growing at high altitude represents safe edible bamboo species with nutritious attributes

Data from: Unveiling the optimal parameters for cellulolytic characteristics of Talaromyces verruculosus SGMNPf3 and its secretory enzymes

AIMS: Elucidation of different physico-chemical parameters and the secretory enzymes released by Talaromyces verruculosus SGMNPf3 during cellulosic biomass degradation. METHODS AND RESULTS: We determined the optimal pH, temperature and time course parameters for the efficient degradation of different natural and commercial cellulosic substrates by T. verruculosus SGMNPf3, previously isolated from a forest soil. The optimal growth of the fungus and production of its cellulases were obtained when the culture condition was maintained at pH 3·3 and temperature 30°C. Activity of the crude cellulases was maximum at 60°C. Activity of cellulase enzymes produced on natural cellulose substrates was higher than that on commercial cellulose substrates. A continuous increase in cellulase activity at different time points indicated no apparent end product inhibition. This might be attributed to the high individual cellulases, notably β-glucosidase (316·1 μmol g(-1) ) production. Zymogram of extracellular crude proteins showed two dominant extracellular protein bands of molecular weight 72·3 and 61·4 kDa, indicating their cellulolytic nature. MALDI-TOF and LC-MS/MS analysis of the 2DE spots also identified several enzymes including β-glucosidase involved in the process of cellulose degradation. CONCLUSIONS: Based on its optimal parameters for cellulolytic activities, we suggest that the fungus is acido-mesophilic. There was apparently no end-product inhibition of the cellulase activity and this is attributed to the ability of the fungus to produce sufficient β-glucosidase. The dominant proteins secreted by the fungus were confirmed to be cellulases. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: The high individual cellulase activities, better cellulase production on natural substrates and apparent absence of end-product inhibition are characteristics of T. verruculosus SGMNPf3 for use in harvesting naturally endowed energy in cellulosic biomass

Host-Range Dynamics of Cochliobolus lunatus: From a Biocontrol Agent to a Severe Environmental Threat

We undertook an investigation to advance understanding of the host-range dynamics and biocontrol implications of Cochliobolus lunatus in the past decade. Potato (Solanum tuberosum L) farms were routinely surveyed for brown-to-black leaf spot disease caused by C. lunatus. A biphasic gene data set was assembled and databases were mined for reported hosts of C. lunatus in the last decade. The placement of five virulent strains of C. lunatus causing foliar necrosis of potato was studied with microscopic and phylogenetic tools. Analysis of morphology showed intraspecific variations in stromatic tissues among the virulent strains causing foliar necrosis of potato. A maximum likelihood inference based on GPDH locus separated C. lunatus strains into subclusters and revealed the emergence of unclustered strains. The evolving nutritional requirement of C. lunatus in the last decade is exhibited by the invasion of vertebrates, invertebrates, dicots, and monocots. Our results contribute towards a better understanding of the host-range dynamics of C. lunatus and provide useful implications on the threat posed to the environment when C. lunatus is used as a mycoherbicide

Figure 1-Phylogenetic and morpgological placement of Aspergillus terreus

Figure 1 Molecular phylogenetic analysis by Maximum likelihood method (ML) based on the K2 + G substitution model. AIC is 1953.78, BIC is 2311.02; the highest log likelihood is -953.45 and bootstrap values ≥ 50% from 1000 iterations are shown. Blue highlighted strain of A. terreus (GenBank® accession number KC305600) causes foliar necrosis of potato. The ML analysis was performed in MEGA 6 [34]. Morphological characteristics of globular accessory conidia indicated arrows stained with Rose Bengal, broom-like conidiophore and colony on PDA, scale bar = 20 µm and magnification = 1000X