Nonthermal Plasma Effects on Fungi: Applications, Fungal Responses, and Future Perspectives.

The kingdom of Fungi is rich in species that live in various environments and exhibit different lifestyles. Many are beneficial and indispensable for the environment and industries, but some can threaten plants, animals, and humans as pathogens. Various strategies have been applied to eliminate fungal pathogens by relying on chemical and nonchemical antifungal agents and tools.

Non-thermal plasma induces changes in aflatoxin production, devitalization, and surface chemistry of Aspergillus parasiticus.

Non-thermal plasma (NTP) represents the fourth state of matter composed of neutral molecules, atoms, ions, radicals, and electrons. It has been used by various industries for several decades, but only recently NTPs have emerged in fields such as medicine, agriculture, and the food industry. In this work, we studied the effect of NTP exposure on aflatoxin production, conidial germination and mycelial vitality, morphological and surface changes of conidia and mycelium.

Voltage-dependent Ca3.2 and Ca2.2 channels in nociceptive pathways.

Noxious stimuli like cold, heat, pH change, tissue damage, and inflammation depolarize a membrane of peripheral endings of specialized nociceptive neurons which eventually results in the generation of an action potential. The electrical signal is carried along a long axon of nociceptive neurons from peripheral organs to soma located in dorsal root ganglions and further to the dorsal horn of the spinal cord where it is transmitted through a chemical synapse and is carried through the spinal thalamic tract into the brain. Two subtypes of voltage-activated calcium play a major role in signal transmission: a low voltage-activated Ca3.

The effect of cold atmospheric pressure plasma on Aspergillus ochraceus and ochratoxin A production.

Aspergillus ochraceus is a soil fungus known to produce ochratoxin A, a harmful secondary metabolite. Prevention and control of fungal pathogens mostly rely on chemical fungicides, which is one of the contributing factors in the emergence of the fungal resistance, hence novel methods for fungal eradication have been extensively researched. The cold atmospheric pressure (CAP) plasma generated in ambient air has been recently applied in microbial decontamination.

Cold plasma treatment triggers antioxidative defense system and induces changes in hyphal surface and subcellular structures of Aspergillus flavus.

The cold atmospheric-pressure plasma (CAPP) has become one of the recent effective decontamination technologies, but CAPP interactions with biological material remain the subject of many studies. The CAPP generates numerous types of particles and radiations that synergistically affect cells and tissues differently depending on their structure. In this study, we investigated the effect of CAPP generated by diffuse coplanar surface barrier discharge on hyphae of Aspergillus flavus.