Fungal bioassays for environmental monitoring.

Environmental pollutants are today a major concern and an intensely discussed topic on the global agenda for sustainable development. They include a wide range of organic compounds, such as pharmaceutical waste, pesticides, plastics, and volatile organic compounds that can be found in air, soil, water bodies, sewage, and industrial wastewater. In addition to impacting fauna, flora, and fungi, skin absorption, inhalation, and ingestion of some pollutants can also negatively affect human health.

Optimized methodology for obtention of high-yield and -quality RNA from the mycelium of the bioluminescent fungus Neonothopanus gardneri.

Neonothopanus gardneri, also known as coconut flower mushroom (flor-de-coco), is a Brazilian bioluminescent basidiomycete found in Palm Forest, a transitional biome between the Amazonian Forest and Caatinga (Savanna-like vegetation) in Northeast Brazil, especially in Piauí State. Recent advances toward the elucidation of fungal bioluminescence have contributed to the discovery of four genes (hisps, h3h, luz and cph) involved with the bioluminescence process, the so-called Caffeic Acid Cycle (CAC) and to develop biotechnological applications such autoluminescent tobacco plants and luciferase-based reporter genes. High-yield and -quality RNA-extraction methods are required for most of these purposes.