Endolichenic fungal diversity associated with some lichens of the Western Ghats.

A total of 389 strains of fungi belonging to 38 species were isolated from 10 lichen species of the Western Ghats, southern India. All the lichens screened, irrespective of their growth forms or location, harboured endolichenic fungi. Most of the fungi belonged to the Ascomycotina.

A High Diversity in Chitinolytic and Chitosanolytic Species and Enzymes and Their Oligomeric Products Exist in Soil with a History of Chitin and Chitosan Exposure.

Chitin is one of the most abundant biomolecules on earth, and its partially de-N-acetylated counterpart, chitosan, is one of the most promising biotechnological resources due to its diversity in structure and function. Recently, chitin and chitosan modifying enzymes (CCMEs) have gained increasing interest as tools to engineer chitosans with specific functions and reliable performance in biotechnological and biomedical applications. In a search for novel CCME, we isolated chitinolytic and chitosanolytic microorganisms from soils with more than ten-years history of chitin and chitosan exposure and screened them for chitinase and chitosanase isoenzymes as well as for their patterns of oligomeric products by incubating their secretomes with chitosan polymers.

Fungi from two forests of southern India: a comparative study of endophytes, phellophytes, and leaf litter fungi.

The species diversity and distribution of 3 ecological groups of fungi (viz., foliar endophytes, phellophytes, and leaf litter fungi of 6 tree hosts of a dry thorn forest and 6 tree hosts of an evergreen forest of southern India) were studied. As the methods of sampling and the isolation procedure were maintained constant, the results could be compared across hosts and fungal assemblages.