Evidence of Fungal Spreading by the Grey Silverfish (Ctenolepisma longicaudatum) in Austrian Museums

The grey silverfish Ctenolepisma longicaudatum is a new and serious pest spreading rapidly across Europe. Compared to the silverfish Lepisma saccharinum, it does not depend on relative humidity above 70% and thrives also in new museum buildings, modern storage depositories, apartments, and office buildings. Especially collections of graphic art, modern art on paper, photographs, but also archives and libraries are increasingly affected by this pest. Damage of paper objects has been reported by different authors and institutions across Europe. As these animals live in inaccessible cracks and crevices inside the buildings, we investigated the spread of microorganisms on living grey silverfish, to show a potential additional threat posed by this pest. In 8 locations in Austria living animals were collected with traps and placed for 10 min on agar plates which were incubated for 2 weeks. After incubation of 50 agar plates, between 2 and 20 colonies of fungi were growing on each plate. The most dominant fungal genera were Cladosporium (Cladosporium cladosporioides clade) and Penicillium (Penicillium glabrum, Penicillium decumbens); also, species of the genera Aspergillus, Alternaria, Botrytis, Bartalinia, Byssochlamis, Chaetomium and Mycothypha were found. The diversity of fungi reflects the common fungal community of museums and archives. The spores and mycelial fragments of the fungi are obviously travelling on the legs and bodies of the silverfish.

FLORA FÚNGICA CONTAMINANTE NATURAL DE ARÁNDANOS (Vaccinium corymbosum L. O ́Neal) FRESCOS Y TRATADOS TÉRMICAMENTE

Se realizó el aislamiento e identifi cación de los mohos presentes en arándanos frescosy tratados térmicamente (10 minutos a 80°C), y se determinó su Abundancia (Ab) y Frecuencia (Fr).Se aislaron e identifi caron ocho especies de mohos en arándanos frescos y ocho especies de mohos en arándanos tratados térmicamente (mohos termorresistentes). Las especies de mohos aislados de arándanos frescos más frecuentes y abundantes fueron Aspergillus niger (Fr: 70% y Ab: 31%) y Penicillium decumbens (Fr: 21% y Ab: 11%). Las especies de mohos aislados de arándanos tratados térmicamente más frecuentes y abundantes fueron Arthrinium phaeospermun (Fr: 30% y Ab: 36%) y Eurotium repens (Fr: 13% y Ab: 21%). Los resultados obtenidos sirven como base para el diseño de tratamientos postcosecha que permitan reducir los mohos más frecuentes y abundantes presentes tanto en arándanos frescos como en aquellos destinados a procesamientos que incluyan una etapa de tratamiento térmico.

Phthalate derivatives from marine Penicillium decumbens and its synergetic effect against sepsis bacteria

Septicemia is a serious bloodstream bacterial infection resulting in blood poisoning and rapidly become human threats. The excessive usage of antibiotics against septicemic diseases developed the pan-drug resistant bacteria. Out of 15 marine fungal isolates, Penicillium decumbens was isolated from El-Shatby, Alexandria, Egypt, and identified as the potent isolate produced bioactive material(s) against some virulent septicemic pathogens. Diisooctyl phthalate (DIOP) in the butanol crude extract was determined by gas chromatography/mass spectrum. Antimicrobial activities were tested in comparison with some known antibiotics used for sepsis treatment. Five antibiotics were, in vitro, tested against septicemic resistant bacteria, either individually or in combination with butanol extract (BE) showed minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) 14.7 and 7.3 µg/ml against G+ve and G-ve tested strains, respectively. Combination of BE with azithromycin (AZM) reduced the MIC value by 73% for G+ve bacteria with the synergistic effect (fractional inhibitory concentration index) FICI = 0.39. Moreover, combination of BE with azithromycin (AZM), also, reduced the MIC value by 92% for Gve bacteria with the synergistic effect FICI = 0.37. The highest antiheamolytic activity reduction percentage was detected at 88% when the combined BE-AZM interact with the supernatant of K. pneumonia, whereas, the lowest antiheamolytic reduction percentage of 57% against E. coli. The findings suggest the use of Diisooctyl phthalate as improving agent in combination with antibiotics in pharmaceutical preparations.