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Fungal-derived Nanoparticles
Throughout human history, fungi have been utilized as a source of food and harnessed to ferment and preserve foods and beverages. In the 20th century, humans have learned to harness fungi to protect human health (antibiotics, anti-cholesterol statins, and immunosuppressive agents), while industry has utilized fungi for large scale production of enzymes, acids, and biosurfactants. With the advent of modern nanotechnology in the 1980s, fungi have remained important by providing a greener alternative to chemically synthesized nanoparticle. Background A nanoparticle is defined as having one dimension 100 nm or less in size. Environmentally toxic or biologically hazardous reducing agents are typically involved in the chemical synthesis of nanoparticles so there has been a search for greener production alternatives. Current research has shown that microorganisms, plant extracts, and fungi can produce nanoparticles through biological pathways. The most common nanoparticles synthesi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antibiotics
An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the treatment and prevention of such infections. They may either kill or inhibit the growth of bacteria. A limited number of antibiotics also possess antiprotozoal activity. Antibiotics are not effective against viruses such as the common cold or influenza; drugs which inhibit viruses are termed antiviral drugs or antivirals rather than antibiotics. Sometimes, the term ''antibiotic''—literally "opposing life", from the Greek roots ἀντι ''anti'', "against" and βίος ''bios'', "life"—is broadly used to refer to any substance used against microbes, but in the usual medical usage, antibiotics (such as penicillin) are those produced naturally (by one microorganism fighting another), whereas non-antibiotic antibacterials (such as sulfonamides and antisep ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pleurotus
''Pleurotus'' is a genus of gilled mushrooms which includes one of the most widely eaten mushrooms, '' P. ostreatus''. Species of ''Pleurotus'' may be called oyster, abalone, or tree mushrooms, and are some of the most commonly cultivated edible mushrooms in the world. ''Pleurotus'' fungi have also been used in mycoremediation of pollutants, such as petroleum and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Etymology The genus name ''Pleurotus'' literally means ''side ear'' in reference to the mushroom caps being laterally attached to the substrate. It is a composite of the Ancient Greek words : pleurá - ''side'', and the stem ''-oto'' referring to ears (from , ὠτός : ''ear''). Description The caps may be laterally attached (with no stipe). If there is a stipe, it is normally eccentric and the gills are decurrent along it. The term '' pleurotoid'' is used for any mushroom with this general shape. The spores are smooth and elongated (described as "cylindrical"). Where hyphae meet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Silver Sulfate
Silver sulfate is the inorganic compound with the formula Ag2SO4. It is a white solid with low solubility in water. Preparation and structure Silver sulfate precipitates as a solid when an aqueous solution of silver nitrate is treated with sulfuric acid: :2AgNO3 + H2SO4 → Ag2SO4 + 2HNO3 It is purified by recrystallization from concentrated sulfuric acid, a step that expels traces of nitrate. Silver sulfate and anhydrous sodium sulfate adopt the same structure. Silver(II) sulfate The synthesis of silver(II) sulfate (AgSO4) with a divalent silver ion instead of a monovalent silver ion was first reported in 2010 by adding sulfuric acid to silver(II) fluoride ( HF escapes). It is a black solid that decomposes exothermally at 120 °C with evolution of oxygen and the formation of the pyrosulfate In chemistry, disulfate or pyrosulfate is the anion with the molecular formula . Disulfate is the IUPAC name. It has a dichromate-like structure and can be visualised as two co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Silver Nitrate
Silver nitrate is an inorganic compound with chemical formula . It is a versatile precursor to many other silver compounds, such as those used in photography. It is far less sensitive to light than the halides. It was once called ''lunar caustic'' because silver was called ''luna'' by ancient alchemists who associated silver with the moon. In solid silver nitrate, the silver ions are three- coordinated in a trigonal planar arrangement. Synthesis and structure Albertus Magnus, in the 13th century, documented the ability of nitric acid to separate gold and silver by dissolving the silver. Indeed silver nitrate can be prepared by dissolving silver in nitric acid followed by evaporation of the solution. The stoichiometry of the reaction depends upon the concentration of nitric acid used. :3 Ag + 4 HNO3 (cold and diluted) → 3 AgNO3 + 2 H2O + NO :Ag + 2 HNO3 (hot and concentrated) → AgNO3 + H2O + NO2 The structure of silver nitrate has been examined by X-ray crystallography sever ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Supernatant
In an aqueous solution, precipitation is the process of transforming a dissolved substance into an insoluble solid from a super-saturated solution. The solid formed is called the precipitate. In case of an inorganic chemical reaction leading to precipitation, the chemical reagent causing the solid to form is called the ''precipitant''. The clear liquid remaining above the precipitated or the centrifuged solid phase is also called the 'supernate' or 'supernatant'. The notion of precipitation can also be extended to other domains of chemistry (organic chemistry and biochemistry) and even be applied to the solid phases (''e.g.'', metallurgy and alloys) when solid impurities segregate from a solid phase. Supersaturation The precipitation of a compound may occur when its concentration exceeds its solubility. This can be due to temperature changes, solvent evaporation, or by mixing solvents. Precipitation occurs more rapidly from a strongly supersaturated solution. The formati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hyphae
A hypha (; ) is a long, branching, filamentous structure of a fungus, oomycete, or actinobacterium. In most fungi, hyphae are the main mode of vegetative growth, and are collectively called a mycelium. Structure A hypha consists of one or more cells surrounded by a tubular cell wall. In most fungi, hyphae are divided into cells by internal cross-walls called "septa" (singular septum). Septa are usually perforated by pores large enough for ribosomes, mitochondria, and sometimes nuclei to flow between cells. The major structural polymer in fungal cell walls is typically chitin, in contrast to plants and oomycetes that have cellulosic cell walls. Some fungi have aseptate hyphae, meaning their hyphae are not partitioned by septa. Hyphae have an average diameter of 4–6 µm. Growth Hyphae grow at their tips. During tip growth, cell walls are extended by the external assembly and polymerization of cell wall components, and the internal production of new cell membrane. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Schizosaccharomyces Pombe
''Schizosaccharomyces pombe'', also called "fission yeast", is a species of yeast used in traditional brewing and as a model organism in molecular and cell biology. It is a unicellular eukaryote, whose cells are rod-shaped. Cells typically measure 3 to 4 micrometres in diameter and 7 to 14 micrometres in length. Its genome, which is approximately 14.1 million base pairs, is estimated to contain 4,970 protein-coding genes and at least 450 non-coding RNAs. These cells maintain their shape by growing exclusively through the cell tips and divide by medial fission to produce two daughter cells of equal size, which makes them a powerful tool in cell cycle research. Fission yeast was isolated in 1893 by Paul Lindner from East African millet beer. The species name ''pombe'' is the Swahili word for beer. It was first developed as an experimental model in the 1950s: by Urs Leupold for studying genetics, and by Murdoch Mitchison for studying the cell cycle. Paul Nurse, a fission yeast ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trametes Versicolor
''Trametes versicolor''also known as ''Coriolus versicolor'' and ''Polyporus versicolor''is a common polypore mushroom found throughout the world. Meaning 'of several colors', ''versicolor'' reliably describes this fungus that displays a variety of colors. For example, because its shape and multiple colors are similar to those of a wild turkey, ''T. versicolor'' is commonly called turkey tail. A similar looking mushroom, commonly called false turkey tail, which is from a different order, may sometimes be confused with the turkey tail mushroom due to appearance. Another lookalike is the multicolor gill polypore. Description and ecology The top surface of the cap shows typical concentric zones of different colors, and the margin is always the lightest. Underneath a layer of tomentum is a black layer, topping the whitish flesh. The flesh itself is 1–3 mm thick and has a leathery texture. Older specimens, such as the one pictured, can have zones with green algae growi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Candida (fungus)
''Candida'' is a genus of yeasts and is the most common cause of fungal infections worldwide. Many species are harmless commensals or endosymbionts of hosts including humans; however, when mucosal barriers are disrupted or the immune system is compromised they can invade and cause disease, known as an opportunistic infection. Candida is located on most mucosal surfaces and mainly the gastrointestinal tract, along with the skin. ''Candida albicans'' is the most commonly isolated species and can cause infections (candidiasis or thrush) in humans and other animals. In winemaking, some species of ''Candida'' can potentially spoil wines. Many species are found in gut flora, including ''C. albicans'' in mammalian hosts, whereas others live as endosymbionts in insect hosts. Systemic infections of the bloodstream and major organs ( candidemia or invasive candidiasis), particularly in patients with an impaired immune system (immunocompromised), affect over 90,000 people a year in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neurospora Crassa
''Neurospora crassa'' is a type of red bread mold of the phylum Ascomycota. The genus name, meaning "nerve spore" in Greek, refers to the characteristic striations on the spores. The first published account of this fungus was from an infestation of French bakeries in 1843. ''Neurospora crassa'' is used as a model organism because it is easy to grow and has a haploid life cycle that makes genetics, genetic analysis simple since recessive traits will show up in the offspring. Analysis of genetic recombination is facilitated by the ordered arrangement of the products of meiosis in ''Neurospora'' ascospores. Its entire genome of seven chromosomes has been sequenced. ''Neurospora'' was used by Edward Tatum and George Wells Beadle in their experiments for which they won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1958. Beadle and Tatum exposed ''N. crassa'' to x-rays, causing mutations. They then observed failures in metabolic pathways caused by errors in specific enzymes. This led t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Verticillium
''Verticillium'' is a genus of fungi in the division Ascomycota, and are an anamorphic form of the family Plectosphaerellaceae. The genus used to include diverse groups comprising saprobes and parasites of higher plants, insects, nematodes, mollusc eggs, and other fungi, thus the genus used to have a wide-ranging group of taxa characterised by simple but ill-defined characters. The genus, currently thought to contain 51 species, may be broadly divided into three ecologically based groups - mycopathogens, entomopathogens, and plant pathogens and related saprotrophs. However, the genus has undergone recent revision into which most entomopathogenic and mycopathogenic isolates fall into a new group called '' Lecanicillium''. At least five species are known to cause a wilt disease in plants called verticillium wilt: ''V. dahliae'', ''V. longisporum'', ''V. albo-atrum'', ''V. nubilum'', and ''V. tricorpus''. A sixth species, ''V. theobromae'', causes fruit or crown rot, a non-wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Epicoccum Nigrum
''Epicoccum nigrum'' is a species of fungus in the phylum Ascomycota. A plant pathogen and endophyte, it is a widespread fungus which produces coloured pigments that can be used as Fungicide, antifungal agents against other pathogenic fungi. The Fluorophore, fluorescent stain epicocconone is extracted from it. Growth and morphology ''Epicoccum nigrum'' (1825) is a fungus with no known teleomorph form. It has been classified as a member of the Hyphomycetes, in the Deuteromycota, as well as the Fungi Imperfecti because it is only known to reproduce asexually. Despite that it is not yeast-like, it has been included in the broad, unrelated category of fungi known as black yeasts. The fungus grows felty colonies in bright shades of yellow, orange, and red, often with brown or black throughout. Colonies grow quickly, reaching about 6 cm in diameter in 2 days at room temperature. Mycelia contain both chitin and cellulose. ''Epicoccum nigrum'' forms Blastoconidium, blastoconidia tha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
