Basidiospores from Wood-Decay Fungi Transform Laccase Substrates in the Absence of Glucose and Nitrogen Supplements.

Preparations of bacterial endospores and fungal conidia are applied in biocontrols, biocatalyses, and lignocellulose fermentations. The biocatalytic abilities of basidiospores from mushrooms of the order Agaricales are unknown. To assess their potential in colonizing recalcitrant substrates solely with their inherent resources, spores of the white-rot fungi (Stru) and (Kmt, Strophariaceae) were analyzed for surface-bound and internal total carbohydrates, phenols, proteins, minerals, and oxidoreductases to estimate their chemistry and the preconditions to transform the laccase substrates guaiacol and 2,2'-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonate) (ABTS) independent of external glucose and nitrogen.

Forage and rangeland plants from uranium mine soils: long-term hazard to herbivores and livestock?

Metalliferous uranium mine overburden soils integrated into arable land or stabilized by perennial rangeland plants evoke concern about the quality of crops and the exposure of grazing and thereby soil-ingesting (wildlife) herbivores to heavy metals (HM) and radionuclides. In a 2-year trial, thirteen annual and perennial forage and rangeland plants were thus potted on, or taken from, cultivated field soil of a metalliferous hot spot near Ronneburg (Germany). The content of soil and shoot tissues in 20 minerals was determined by ICP-MS to estimate HM (and uranium) toxicities to grazing animals and the plants themselves, and to calculate the long-term persistence of the metal toxicants (soil clean-up times) from the annual uptake rates of the plants.

Clues for regulatory processes in fungal uptake and transfer of minerals to the basidiospore.

Several fungal species are notorious for the preferential acquisition of toxicants such as AsCdHgPbU in their wild-grown basidiomes, but it is not known how, or whether at all, mineral uptake is regulated. In this study, basidiomes of Kuehneromyces mutabilis, Pleurotus ostreatus, and Hypholoma fasciculare were grown on Fagus sylvatica logs embedded in sand, uranium-overburden soil, and garden soil (SIO) at a lab scale to raise the accessible mineral resources 30 to >1,000 times over those available in the timber alone. Non-embedded logs and a field culture established on SIO served as controls.

Mutual influence of soil basidiomycetes and white mustard plants on their enzymatic and catabolic activities.

Liquid and volatile emanations in interactions of soil basidiomycetes with herbs affect fungal oxidoreductases and stress-related plant peroxidases (PO). In this study, gnotobiotic co-cultures between 6 non-pathogenic saprobes and 2 ectomycorrhizal basidiomycetes with the non-host plant white mustard were established on glucose-salt medium with the respective controls. Determined were oxidoreductase activities for culture fluids and plant tissues at initial fungal idiophase and degradation rates of Remazol-BBR and 5 PAHs.

Role of plants in the vegetative and reproductive growth of saprobic basidiomycetous ground fungi.

Non-symbiotic microorganisms engineered or expensively selected to degrade xenobiotic hydrocarbons or modify heavy-metal uptake of plants in soil remediations die back after their introduction into the target soils. Mycelia of saprobic basidiomycetes were therefore inoculated into soil samples of 1 l in glass vessels to record mycelial growth and reproduction in the immediate rhizosphere of up to 11 herbaceous plant species, or to study their responses to the separate volatiles from whole plant swards or their root balls whose emanations had been collected in 1.5-l plastic bags fixed to the glass vessels.

Microbial competition, lack in macronutrients, and acidity as main obstacles to the transfer of basidiomycetous ground fungi into (organically or heavy-metal contaminated) soils.

Non-symbiotic soil microorganisms which have been expensively engineered or selected to support plant nutrition, control root diseases, degrade xenobiotic hydrocarbons, and repress or stimulate heavy metal uptake of plants fail to survive in target soils. This prompted studies into the role of chemistry and microbial pre-colonization of 23 top soils in long-term growth of basidiomycetes. Fungi are seen as auxiliary agents in soil remediation.

Factors influencing water solubility and plant availability of mineral compounds in the tripartite fairy rings of Marasmius oreades (BOLT.: FR.) FR.

Fairy rings of M. oreades on pasture land were denoted by the dark-green vegetation. Grasses and rooted soils were analyzed to determine the influence of nonsymbiotic fungal mats on plant uptake of (heavy) metals.

Increased solubility of (heavy) metals in soil during microbial transformations of sucrose and casein amendments.

Unsterile soil samples pH 6.8 were amended with 10% sucrose or 0.1% NH4NO3/2% casein to influence solubility of metal cations.