Generalist arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi dominated heavy metal polluted soils at two artisanal and small - scale gold mining sites in southeastern Ecuador.

Background: Artisanal and small-scale gold mining activities are producing contamination with heavy metals and metalloids (HMM) into soils and water worldwide. The HMM are considered as one of the major abiotic stresses due to their long-term persistence in soil. In this context, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) confer resistance to a variety of abiotic plant stressors including HMM.

Erato polymnioides - A novel Hg hyperaccumulator plant in ecuadorian rainforest acid soils with potential of microbe-associated phytoremediation.

Mercury (Hg) accumulation capacity was assessed in three plant species (Axonopus compressus, Erato polymnioides, and Miconia zamorensis) that grow on soils polluted by artisanal small-scale gold mines in the Ecuadorian rainforest. Individuals of three species were collected at two sampling zones: i) an intensive zone (IZ, 4.8 mg Hg kg of soil) where gold extraction continues to occur, and ii) a natural zone (NZ, 0.

Production of XynX, a large multimodular protein of thermoanaerobacterium sp., by protease-deficient Bacillus subtilis strains [corrected].

XynX of Thermoanaerobacterium sp. [corrected] is a large, multimodular xylanase of 116 kDa. An Escherichia coli transformant carrying the entire xynX produced three active truncated xylanase species of 105, 85, and 64 kDa intracellularly.

Protection of Penaeus monodon against white spot syndrome virus by inactivated vaccine with herbal immunostimulants.

To improve the immune response in tiger shrimp Penaeus monodon against WSSV infection, juveniles (350 ± 10 mg) were vaccinated with formalin-inactivated WSSV and fed with herbal immunostimulants. The methanolic extracts of herbal immunostimulants such as Acalypha indica, Cynodon dactylon, Picrorrhiza kurrooa, Withania somnifera and Zingiber officinalis were incorporated in formulated diets at different concentrations; 250 (ED(1)), 500 (ED(2)), 1000 (ED(3)) and 2000 (ED(4)) mg kg(-1) of feed and fed for 60 days after vaccination. After 30 and 60 days intervals of feeding, the shrimps were challenged with WSSV, which were isolated and propagated from the infected crustaceans.

The role of carbohydrate-binding module (CBM) repeat of a multimodular xylanase (XynX) from Clostridium thermocellum in cellulose and xylan binding.

A non-cellulosomal xylanase from Clostridium thermocellum, XynX, consists of a family-22 carbohydratebinding module (CBM22), a family-10 glycoside hydrolase (GH10) catalytic module, two family-9 carbohydrate-binding modules (CBM9-I and CBM9-II), and an S-layer homology (SLH) module. E. coli BL21(DE3) (pKM29), a transformant carrying xynX', produced several truncated forms of the enzyme.

A new approach for enhanced multiplication of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and isolation of ITS regions from Glomus deserticola and Laccaria fraterna.

Rootlets induced from the petiole base of L. purpureus, using IAA and kinetin was used for enhanced multiplication of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungus, G. deserticula.

Use of sucrose-agar globule with root exudates for mass production of vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi.

A sucrose-agar globule (SAG) was newly introduced to increase production of the vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizal (VAM) fungal spores, Gigaspora gigantea and Glomus fasciculatum. An SAG inoculum and a sucrose-agar globule with root exudates (SAGE) inoculum were prepared, and their spore productions were compared with a soil inoculum. When the SAGE was used as the inoculum on sucrose-agar medium plates the number of spores was increased (35% more than the soil inoculum).