Biodegradation of plastics by white-rot fungi: A review.

Plastic pollution is one of the most environmental problems in the last two centuries, because of their excessive usage and their rapidly increasing production, which overcome the ability of natural degradation. Moreover, this problem become an escalating environmental issue caused by inadequate disposal, ineffective or nonexistent waste collection methods, and a lack of appropriate measures to deal with the problem, such as incineration and landfilling. Consequently, plastic wastes have become so ubiquitous and have accumulated in the environment impacting ecosystems and wildlife.

Submerged cultivation, characterization and in vitro antitumor activity of polysaccharides from Schizophyllum radiatum.

Production of polysaccharides by white-rot-fungi in submerged cultivation has several advantages due to process control. This work deals with the submerged cultivation, extraction and antitumor activity of polysaccharides from a wild strain of Schizophyllum radiatum isolated from a tropical forest of Colombia. The mushroom was cultivated in laboratory conditions, and classified by classical and molecular taxonomy.

Biotechnological production, characterization and in vitro antitumor activity of polysaccharides from a native strain of Lentinus crinitus.

This work deals with the submerged cultivation, extraction and antitumor activity of polysaccharides from Lentinus crinitus. The fungus was isolated from a tropical forest (Antioquia, Colombia), cultivated in laboratory conditions, and classified by classical and molecular taxonomy. Then, it was cultivated in a bioreactor of 5 L using a ligninolytic residue as substrate.