Bioleaching of Manganese Oxides at Different Oxidation States by Filamentous Fungus Aspergillus niger.

This work aimed to examine the bioleaching of manganese oxides at various oxidation states (MnO, MnO·Mn2O3, Mn2O3 and MnO2) by a strain of the filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger, a frequent soil representative. Our results showed that the fungus effectively disintegrated the crystal structure of selected mineral manganese phases. Thereby, during a 31-day static incubation of oxides in the presence of fungus, manganese was bioextracted into the culture medium and, in some cases, transformed into a new biogenic mineral. The latter resulted from the precipitation of extracted manganese with biogenic oxalate. The Mn(II,III)-oxide was the most susceptible to fungal biodeterioration, and up to 26% of the manganese content in oxide was extracted by the fungus into the medium. The detected variabilities in biogenic oxalate and gluconate accumulation in the medium are also discussed regarding the fungal sensitivity to manganese. These suggest an alternative pathway of manganese oxides' biodeterioration via a reductive dissolution. There, the oxalate metabolites are consumed as the reductive agents. Our results highlight the significance of fungal activity in manganese mobilization and transformation. The soil fungi should be considered an important geoactive agent that affects the stability of natural geochemical barriers.

Fungal Mobilization of Selenium in the Presence of Hausmannite and Ferric Oxyhydroxides.

Bioleaching of mineral phases plays a crucial role in the mobility and availability of various elements, including selenium. Therefore, the leachability of selenium associated with the surfaces of ferric and manganese oxides and oxyhydroxides, the prevailing components of natural geochemical barriers, has been studied in the presence of filamentous fungus. Both geoactive phases were exposed to selenate and subsequently to growing fungus Aspergillus niger for three weeks. This common soil fungus has shown exceptional ability to alter the distribution and mobility of selenium in the presence of both solid phases. The fungus initiated the extensive bioextraction of selenium from the surfaces of amorphous ferric oxyhydroxides, while the hausmannite (Mn3O4) was highly susceptible to biodeterioration in the presence of selenium. This resulted in specific outcomes regarding the selenium, iron, and manganese uptake by fungus and residual selenium concentrations in mineral phases as well. The adverse effects of bioleaching on fungal growth are also discussed.

Removal of overpainting from an historical painting of the XVIII Century: A yeast enzymatic approach.

Biocleaning of cultural heritage items is mainly performed using living microorganisms. Approaches utilizing the enzymes of isolated microorganisms have not been frequently investigated. To find an enzymatic alternative for the removal of an oil-based overpainting, we focused on the characterization and use of a yeast Extracellular Enzymatic Mixture (EEM). A historical silk yeast was selected for its lipolytic properties and its EEM was extracted after cultivation on a medium supplemented with linseed oil. The EEM protein content was visualized by SDS-PAGE, its concentration assessed by fluorimeter and the enzymatic activity evaluated by p-NPP spectrophotometric lipase assay. The yeast growth was suppressed by adding diverse metal ions (Cd, Zn, Cr and Cu) in Reasoner's 2A (R2A) broth, while the quantity and activity of EEM were affected by adding Fe and Pb. Various delivery systems (agar-agar, tylose and klucel G) alone or in a combination with EEM were assayed on the historical painting surface. The colorimetric measurements and the ATR-FTIR analysis indicated that the combinations tylose-EEM and klucel G-EEM can be easily and effectively applied as biocleaning procedures to remove oil-based overpainting from fragile and valuable historical painting surfaces.

Studying the Gene Expression of Penicillium rubens Under the Effect of Eight Essential Oils.

Essential oils (EOs) are well-known for their beneficial properties against a broad range of microorganisms. For the better understanding of their mechanism of action in fungi, a microarray approach was used in order to evaluate the gene expression of Penicillium chrysogenum (recently renamed P. rubens) exposed to the indirect contact (vapors) of eight EOs. The selection of assayed EOs was based on their antifungal activity. The extraction of RNA and the microarray hybridization procedure were optimized for the analysis of P. rubens. Gene ontology annotation was performed to investigate the functional analysis of the genes. To uncover the metabolic pathway of these differentially expressed genes, they were mapped into the KEGG BRITE pathway database. The transcriptomic analysis showed that, from a total of 12,675 genes, only 551 genes are annotated, and the other 12,124 genes encoded hypothetical proteins. Further bioinformatic analysis demonstrated that 1350 genes were upregulated and 765 downregulated at least with half (four) of the utilizing EOs. A microarray investigation has confirmed the main impact of EOs to metabolic processes in P. rubens involved in vital functions. Presumably, this is the first time that a microarray hybridization analysis was performed in order to evaluate the gene expression of P. rubens exposed to various EOs.