Requalification of a Brazilian Trichoderma collection and screening of its capability to decolourise real textile effluent

Water contamination with large amounts of industrial textile coloured effluents is an environmental concern. For the treatment of textile effluents, white-rot fungi have received extensive attention due to their powerful capability to produce oxidative (e.g., ligninolytic) enzymes. In addition, other groups of fungi, such as species of Aspergillus and Trichoderma, have also been used for textile effluents treatment. The main aim of the present study was to requalify a Brazilian Trichoderma culture collection of 51 Trichoderma strains, isolated from different sources in Brazil and preserved in the oldest Latin-American Fungal Service Culture Collection, The Micoteca URMWDCM 804 (Recife, Brazil). Fungal isolates were re-identified through a polyphasic approach including macro- and micro-morphology and molecular biology, and screened for their capability to decolourise real effluents collected directly from storage tanks of a textile manufacture. Trichoderma atroviride URM 4950 presented the best performance on the dye decolourisation in real textile effluent and can be considered in a scale-up process at industrial level. Overall, the potential of Trichoderma strains in decolourising real textile dye present in textile effluent and the production of the oxidative enzymes Lac, LiP and MnP was demonstrated. Fungal strains are available in the collection e-catalogue to be further explored from the biotechnological point of view.Authors are grateful to the Fundacao de Amparo a Ciencia e Tecnologia do Estado de Pernambuco (FACEPE), Brazil for the financial support. C. Santos thanks to the Universidad de La Frontera (Temuco, Chile) for the internal support to the current external funded project (DIUFRO PIA16-0009).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Trichosporon pullulans (Lidner) Diddens & Lodder isolated from the oral cavity of AIDS patient

Trichosporon has been reported as a remarkable emerging pathogen and usually occurs in imunodrepressed patients. An oropharyngeal secretion sample was collected from a patient with AIDS, at the Sector of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, Osvaldo Cruz University Hospital, Pernambuco State, Brazil. No yeast cells or arthroconidia were observed in the direct exam, but a culture was positive for Trichosporon pullulans, which is being reported in an AIDS patient for the first time

Identification and pathogenicity of Malassezia species isolated from human healthy skin and with macules Identificação e patogenicidade de espécies de Malassezia isoladas de pele humana saudável e com mácula

This study investigated the ocurrence of Malassezia species in clinically healthy students and with macules with a slight fawn discoloration and characterized the isolates as to the pathogenicity factors such as growth at 37ºC, lipase, phospholipase and protease detection. Clinical samples were collected from different body sites of one hundred students of different ages and both sexes. The samples, obtained by scrapping the skin surface and the scalp, were treated with potassa and cultured. Cultures were obtained in Petri dishes containing Sabouraud agar medium added of olive oil, incubated at room temperature and at 37ºC. Culture identifications were based in their morphological and physiological properties. Lipase, phospholipase and protease detection was performed in specific media on Petri dishes for formation of a zone. Globose, spherical yeast cells and hypha were investigated by direct microscopy of clinical materials. Malassezia furfur was detected in seven samples and M. sympodialis in four. All Malassezia cultures presented lipase activity, but none was phospholipase positive. Protease activity was observed in two M. furfur and two M. simpodialis isolates.<br>A ocorrência de espécies Malassezia em estudantes clinicamente sadios e com máculas com leve descoloração foi investigada e os isolados caracterizados quanto a fatores de patogenicidade como crescimento a 37ºC, detecção de lípase, fosfolipase e protease. Amostras clínicas de 100 estudantes de ambos os sexos, diferentes idades e sítios corpóreos foram obtidas por escarificação da superfície da pele e do couro cabeludo e examinadas com hidróxido de potássio e submetidas à cultura. As culturas foram obtidas em meio ágar Sabouraud adicionado de óleo de oliva, em placa de Petri, incubadas a temperatura ambiente e a 37ºC. A identificação foi realizada através das propriedades morfológicas e fisiológicas. A detecção de lipase, fosfolipase e protease foi analisada em meios específicos em placa de Petri pela formação de halo. O exame microscópico direto mostrou células globosas, esféricas e hifa. Malassezia furfur foi detectada em sete amostras e M. sympodialis em quatro. Todas as culturas apresentaram atividade lipásica, mas nenhuma foi fosfolipase positiva. A atividade proteásica foi observada em dois isolados de M. furfur e dois de M. simpodialis