Identification and Typing of Strains of Wood-Rotting Basidiomycetes by Protein Profiling Using MALDI-TOF MS.

The accurate identification and proper typing of basidiomycetes are required in medical, sanitary maintenance, agriculture, and biotechnology fields. A diagnostic method based on information from whole-cell proteins acquired by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) was investigated to identify wood-rotting fungi, a group of filamentous fungi. In this study, mass spectra of intracellular peptides obtained from cultured mycelia of 50 strains of 10 wood-rotting fungal species were obtained multiple times and mass spectral patterns (MSPs) consisting of peaks that characterized the fungal species or strain was created to construct an in-house database. The species identification was conducted by comparing the newly obtained raw mass spectra with the MSPs in the database using the MALDI Biotyper. The results showed that the peak patterns of the mass spectra were reproducible and matched at the strain level. A cluster analysis based on the MSPs was also conducted to examine inter-and intraspecific diversity among the tested wood-rotting basidiomycetes. Most of the fungal strains examined in this study could be identified to a species level; however, the strains belonging to Pleurotus could only be identified to a genus level. This was due to an intraspecific variation, so the identification accuracy could be amendable with a more enhanced database.

Evidence of Subterranean Termite Feeding Deterrent Produced by Brown Rot Fungus Fibroporia radiculosa (Peck) Parmasto 1968 (Polyporales, Fomitopsidaceae).

We found that decayed wood stakes with no termite damage collected from a termite-infested field exhibited a deterrent effect against the termite Reticulitermes speratus, Kolbe, 1885. The effect was observed to be lost or reduced by drying. After identification, it was found that the decayed stakes were infected by brown rot fungus Fibroporia radiculosa (Peck) Parmasto, 1968. In a no-choice feeding test, wood blocks decayed by this fungus under laboratory condition deterred R. speratus feeding and n-hexane extract from the decayed stake and blocks induced termite mortality. These data provided an insight into the interaction between wood-rot fungi and wood-feeding termites.

Direct ethanol production from cellulosic materials by consolidated biological processing using the wood rot fungus Schizophyllum commune.

In the present study, ethanol production from polysaccharides or wood chips was conducted in a single reactor under anaerobic conditions using the white rot fungus Schizophyllum commune NBRC 4928, which produces enzymes that degrade lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose. The ethanol yields produced from glucose and xylose were 80.5%, and 52.5%, respectively. The absolute yields of ethanol per microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), xylan and arabinogalactan were 0.26g/g-MCC, 0.0419g/g-xylan and 0.0508g/g-arabinogalactan, respectively. By comparing the actual ethanol yields from polysaccharides with monosaccharide fermentation, it was shown that the rate of saccharification was slower than that in fermentation. S. commune NBRC 4928 is concluded to be suitable for CBP because it can produce ethanol from various types of sugar. From the autoclaved cedar chip, only little ethanol was produced by S. commune NBRC 4928 alone but ethanol production was enhanced by combined use of ethanol fermenting and lignin degrading fungi.

Profiling of a microbial community under confined conditions in a fed-batch garbage decomposer by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis.

In order to determine the conditions for the maximum performance of a fed-batch composting (FBC) reactor, polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) was used to analyze the microbial communities established under the confined conditions of moisture content and environmental temperature. To evaluate the effects of microbial community structures on the performance of FBC reactors, degradation experiments using small-scale reactors and model waste were conducted under confined environmental conditions. A high degradation rate was observed under a wide range of MC conditions (30-60%) and at higher than usual temperatures (30-50 degrees C). The microbial communities that formed in the experimental FBC reactors were analyzed by DGGE of PCR-amplified 16S rRNA genes. The DGGE banding patterns at the same level as the degradation rates were similar even if the environmental conditions were different. Sequence analysis of the DGGE bands revealed the primary microbes which act in the reactor.