Productivity, biological efficiency, and number of Agaricus blazei mushrooms grown in compost in the presence of Trichoderma sp. and Chaetomium olivacearum contaminants

Foi avaliado o efeito dos fungos contaminantes Trichoderma sp. e C. olivacearum na produtividade, eficiência biológica e número de cogumelos da produção do A. blazei em composto (mistura de cana-de-açúcar, palha de capim coast-cross, farelo de soja, gesso e calcário calcítico). O delineanamento foi inteiramente casualizado com três tratamentos (Trichoderma sp., C. olivacearum e testemunha) e oito repetições (caixa com 12 kg de composto colonizado com A. blazei). Após a colonização do composto pelo A. blazei, adicionou-se 150g de inóculo à base de triticale de cada um dos fungos contaminantes na superfície do composto seguido da camada de cobertura. O experimento foi conduzido em estufa com cobertura plástica, umidade relativa entre 60-90% e temperatura de 20-34ºC. A produtividade foi determinada pela relação entre a massa fresca de basidiomas e a massa úmida do composto. A eficiência biológica foi determinada pela relação entre a massa fresca de basidiomas e a massa seca do composto ao final do período de colheita. de acordo com os resultados obtidos, os fungos contaminantes C. olivacearum e Trichoderma sp. não afetaram a produtividade, eficiência biológica e número de cogumelos da produção do A. blazei em compostos previamente colonizados.

Murcha por Ceratocystis em eucalipto: avaliação de resistência e análise epidemiológica

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Eficiência e viabilidade econômica do controle químico da ferrugem do eucalipto em condições de campo

Originária da América do Sul, a ferrugem do eucalipto causada pelo fungo Puccinia psidii, vem se tornando uma doença limitante para a cultura do eucalipto no Brasil, exigindo a adoção de estratégias de controle, dentre as quais está o controle químico. Para avaliar eficiência e viabilidade econômica de fungicidas no controle da ferrugem do eucalipto, montou-se um ensaio a campo. Para a instalação do ensaio, utilizou-se o delineamento em blocos ao acaso, em esquema fatorial 3 x 3 (3 produtos e 3 doses), sendo 0,5, 1,0 e 1,5 mL ou g do produto comercial por litro de solução. Os tratamentos foram: 1-) Testemunha; 2-) Fungicida azoxistrobina (estrobilurina); 3-) Fungicida tebuconazol (triazol); 4-) Fungicida tebuconazol + trifloxistrobina (triazol + estrobilurina). O experimento constou de quatro repetições, com avaliação da severidade das plantas. As avaliações foram efetuadas com base no percentual de área foliar lesionada. Verificou-se que com o aumento na dosagem dos fungicidas, houve maior redução da doença nas plantas aos 7 e 15 dias pós-aplicação. O fungicida tebuconazol + trifloxistrobina a 1,5 mL/L foi o mais eficiente contra a ferrugem do eucalipto em condições de campo. O fungicida tebuconazol apresentou maior viabilidade econômica nas três doses testadas.

Inferência filogenética revela a complexa etiologia das manchas areolada e foliar em seringueira e em outras espécies cultivadas na Amazônia

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Produção de enzimas por fungos em fermentação semi-sólida utilizando bagaço de coco e pedúnculo de caju como substratos

The production of enzymes by microorganisms using organic residues is important and it can be associated with several applications such as food and chemical industries and so on. The objective of this work is the production of CMCase, Xylanase, Avicelase and FPase enzymes by solid state fermentation (SSF) using as substrates: bagasse of coconut and dried cashew stem. The microorganisms employed are Penicillium chrysogenum and an isolated fungus from the coconut bark (Aspergillus fumigatus). Through the factorial design methodology and response surface analysis it was possible to study the influence of the humidity and pH. For Penicillium chrysogenum and the isolated fungus, the coconut bagasse was used as culture medium. In another fermentation, it was used the mixture of coconut bagasse and cashew stem. Fermentations were conducted using only the coconut bagasse as substrate in cultures with Penicillium chrysogenum fungus and the isolated one. A mixture with 50% of coconut and 50% of cashew stem was employed only for Penicillium chrysogenum fungus, the cultivation conditions were: 120 hours at 30 °C in BOD, changing humidity and pH values. In order to check the influence of the variables: humidity and pH, a 2 2 factorial experimental design was developed, and then two factors with two levels for each factor and three repetitions at the central point. The levels of the independent variables used in ascending order (-1, 0, +1), to humidity, 66%, 70.5% and 75% and pH 3, 5 and 7, respectively. The software STATISTICA TM (version 7.0, StatSoft, Inc.) was used to calculate the main effects of the variables and their interactions. The response surface methodology was used to optimize the conditions of the SSF. A chemical and a physic-chemical characterization of the coconut bagasse have determined the composition of cellulose (%) = 39.09; Hemicellulose (%) = 23.80, Total Lignin (%) = 36.22 and Pectin (%) = 1.64. To the characterization of cashew stem, the values were cellulose (g) = 15.91 Hemicellulose (%) = 16.77, Total Lignin (%) = 30.04 and Pectin (%) = 15.24. The results indicate the potential of the materials as substrate for semisolid fermentation enzyme production. The two microorganisms used are presented as good producers of cellulases. The results showed the potential of the fungus in the production of CMCase enzyme, with a maximum of 0.282 UI/mL and the Avicelase enzyme the maximum value ranged from 0.018 to 0.020 UI/ mL, using only coconut bagasse as substrate. The Penicillium chrysogenum fungus has showed the best results for CMCase = 0.294 UI/mL, FPase = 0.058 UI/mL, Avicelase = 0.010 UI/mL and Xylanase = 0.644 UI/ mL enzyme, using coconut bagasse and cashew stem as substrates. The Penicllium chrysogenum fungus showed enzymatic activities using only the coconut as substrate for CMCase = 0.233 UI/mL, FPase = 0.031 to 0.032 UI/ mL, Avicelase = 0.018 to 0.020 UI/mL and Xylanase = 0.735 UI/ mL. Thus, it can be concluded that the used organisms and substrates have offered potential for enzyme production processes in a semi-solid cultivation

Palma forrageira (Opuntia ficus indica e Nopalea cochenillifera) como matéria-prima para produção de etanol celulósico e enzimas celulolíticas

The need for new sources of energy and the concern about the environment have pushed the search for renewable energy sources such as ethanol. The use of lignocellulosic biomass as substrate appears as an important alternative because of the abundance of this raw material and for it does not compete with food production. However, the process still meets difficulties of implementation, including the cost for production of enzymes that degrade cellulose to fermentable sugars. The aim of this study was to evaluate the behavior of the species of cactus pear Opuntia ficus indica and Nopalea cochenillifera, commonly found in northeastern Brazil, as raw materials for the production of: 1) cellulosic ethanol by simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) process, using two different strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (PE-2 and LNF CA-11), and 2) cellulolytic enzymes by semi-solid state fermentation (SSSF) using the filamentous fungus Penicillium chrysogenum. Before alcoholic fermentation process, the material was conditioned and pretreated by three different strategies: alkaline hydrogen peroxide, alkaline using NaOH and acid using H2SO4 followed by alkaline delignification with NaOH. Analysis of composition, crystallinity and enzymatic digestibility were carried out with the material before and after pretreatment. In addition, scanning electron microscopy images were used to compare qualitatively the material and observe the effects of pretreatments. An experimental design 2² with triplicate at the central point was used to evaluate the influence of temperature (30, 40 and 45 °C) and the initial charge of substrate (3, 4 and 5% cellulose) in the SSF process using the material obtained through the best condition and testing both strains of S. cerevisiae, one of them flocculent (LNF CA-11). For cellulase production, the filamentous fungus P. chrysogenum was tested with N. cochenillifera in the raw condition (without pretreatment) and pretrated hydrothermically, varying the pH of the fermentative medium (3, 5 and 7). The characterization of cactus pear resulted in 31.55% cellulose, 17.12% hemicellulose and 10.25% lignin for N. cochenillifera and 34.86% cellulose, 19.97% hemicellulose and 15.72% lignin for O. ficus indica. It has also been determined, to N. cochenillifera and O. ficus indica, the content of pectin (5.44% and 5.55% of calcium pectate, respectively), extractives (26.90% and 9.69%, respectively) and ashes (5.40% and 5.95%). Pretreatment using alkaline hydrogen peroxide resulted in the best cellulose recovery results (86.16% for N. cochenillifera and 93.59% for O. ficus indica) and delignification (48.79% and 23.84% for N. cochenillifera and O. ficus indica, respectively). This pretreatment was also the only one which did not increase the crystallinity index of the samples, in the case of O. ficus indica. However, when analyzing the enzymatic digestibility of cellulose, alkali pretreatment was the one which showed the best yields and therefore it was chosen for the tests in SSF. The experiments showed higher yield of conversion of cellulose to ethanol by PE-2 strain using the pretreated N. cochenillifera (93.81%) at 40 °C using 4% initial charge of cellulose. N. cochenillifera gave better yields than O. ficus indica and PE-2 strain showed better performance than CA-11. N. cochenillifera proved to be a substrate that can be used in the SSSF for enzymes production, reaching values of 1.00 U/g of CMCase and 0.85 FPU/g. The pretreatment was not effective to increase the enzymatic activity values

Protection induced in BALB/c mice by the high-molecular-mass (hMM) fraction of Paracoccidioides brasiliensis

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Purification and structural characterisation of (1 -> 3 ; 1 -> 6)-beta-D-glucans (botryosphaerans) from Botryosphaeria rhodina grown on sucrose and fructose as carbon sources: a comparative study

Two botryosphaerans, exopolysaccharides (EPS) secreted by the ascomyceteous fungus Botryosphaeria rhodina, when grown on sucrose and fructose as sole carbon sources, were structurally compared after their isolation from the culture medium. Both EPS were submitted to trypsin digestion, and eluted as a single peak on gel filtration. Total acid hydrolysis yielded only glucose, and data from methylation analysis and Smith degradation indicated that both EPS constituted a main chain of glucopyranosyl beta(1 -> 3) linkages substituted at O-6. The products obtained after partial acid hydrolysis demonstrated side chains consisting of glucosyl- and gentiobiosyl- linked beta(1 -> 6) residues. C-13-NMR spectroscopy studies showed that all glucosidic linkages were of the beta-configuration. The carbon source affected the side chain structures of botryosphaeran but not the main chain makeup. Sucrose produced less branching (21%) than fructose (31%). (c) 2005 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Effect of soybean oil and Tween 80 on the production of botryosphaeran by Botryosphaeria rhodina MAMB-05

The addition of soybean oil and Tween 80 was evaluated with the objective of increasing the production of botryosphaeran, an exopolysaccharide (EPS) of the (1 -> 3 ;1 -> 6)-beta-D-glucan type produced by the fungus Botowsphaeria rhodina MAMB-05. Factorial design and analysis by response surface methodology was developed to select the main factors that would affect and enhance EPS production. The optimized culture conditions were: 40g l(-1) glucose with 10ml l(-1) soybean oil, and 4.5 ml l(-1) Tween 80, during 72h cultivation at 28 degrees C (180 rpm) and initial pH 5.7. The predicted result for botryosphaeran production was 8.22 +/- 1.36 g l(-1), and compared with the experimental value of 7.74 +/- 0.13 g l(-1) . Partial characterization of the botryosphaeran produced under the optimized conditions showed one type of polysaccharide with P-glycosidic linkages containing glucose as monosaccharide. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Thermal and Rheological Properties of a Family of Botryosphaerans Produced by Botryosphaeria rhodina MAMB-05

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)