Sporidesmiella lignicola sp. nov., a new hyphomycetous fungus from freshwater habitats in China

Freshwater fungi, growing on submerged wood, can promote the degradation of organisms and the reuse of rotten wood energy and play key roles in freshwater ecosystems. Here, a new hyphomycetous fungus, Sporidesmiella lignicola, was isolated and identified from submerged wood samples collected in a small stream in Jiangxi Province, south-eastern China. The new taxon was studied, based on morphological characters and phylogenetic analyses combined with LSU, ITS, TEF1α and RPB2 sequences data. Sporidesmiella lignicola was morphologically characterised by its pink colonies on PDA medium in prophase, macronematous, mononematous, solitary, brown, septate, unbranched, straight or slightly flexuous conidiophores with holoblastic, polyblastic, integrated, terminal, pale brown conidiogenous cells and cylindrical, narrowly clavate, broadly obovoid to cuneiform, 3–4-distoseptate, olivaceous brown or brown conidia with rounded apex. A phylogenetic tree was constructed, based on the combination of LSU, ITS, TEF1α and RPB2 sequences data.

An evaluation of Mucormycosis, Outburst

Black fungus is also known as Mucormycosis, and it is occasional but threatening infection. Black fungus is caused by getting into exposure with fungus spores in the surroundings. It can also form in the skin after the fungus enters through a cut, scrape, burn, or another type of skin trauma. Fungi live in the environment, particularly in soil and decaying organic matter such as leaves, compost piles, rotten wood, particularly in soil, compost, and animal dung. This fungal infection is caused by a type of mould known as 'mucromycetes’. It should be noted that this rare fungal infection affects persons who have health issues or who use drugs that weaken the body's ability to fight the infections. There are different types of mucormycosis Trusted Source, including rhino cerebral (sinus and brain), pulmonary (lung), gastrointestinal, and cutaneous (skin) mucormycosis. The COVID-19 generates a sudden change in the interior environment of the host for the fungus, and the medical treatment administered unknowingly promotes fungal development. COVID-19 causes harm to the airway mucosa and blood vessels. It also causes a rise in serum iron, which is required for the fungus to grow. Broad-spectrum antibiotics not only kill potentially harmful bacteria but also beneficial commensals. Although antifungals such as Voriconazole prevent Aspergillosis, Mucor survives and grows due to a lack of resistance. Long-term ventilation decreases immunity, and there is conjecture that the humidifier water that is delivered along with the oxygen transfers the fungus. It is ubiquitous and found in soil and air and even in the nose and mucus of healthy people. It affects the sinuses, the brain and the lungs and can be life-threatening in diabetic or severely immunocompromised individuals, such as cancer patients or people with HIV/AIDS. Doctors believe mucormycosis, which has an overall mortality rate of 50%, may be being triggered by the use of steroids, a life-saving treatment for severe and critically ill Covid-19 patients. Steroids reduce inflammation in the lungs for Covid-19 and appear to help stop some of the damage that can happen when the body's immune system goes into overdrive to fight off coronavirus. But they also reduce immunity and push up blood sugar levels in both diabetics and non-diabetic Covid-19 patients. It’s thought that this drop in immunity could be triggering these cases of mucormycosis.

A simple, low-cost device for collecting mushroom-dwelling Scaphidiinae (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae)

The shining fungus beetles (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Scaphidiinae) comprise more than 1800 described species, which are usually small (≅0.84–14.30 mm long) (Tang et al. 2014 ; Löbl & Ogawa 2016) and found on bracket and resupinate fungi, mushrooms and slime molds (Newton 1984; Löbl & Leschen 2003; Löbl 2018). They are known to be diverse in forests of tropical and subtropical regions, which contrast to the low number of species currently known from Brazil: only 34 species and two subspecies from seven genera (Löbl 2018; von Groll & Lopes-Andrade, 2021). Any active search for Scaphidiinae in the Brazilian Atlantic forest reveals a considerable abundance and diverse of these organisms (pers. obs.), but they disperse rapidly if disturbed, and the success of field collections relies on the collectors’ skills, luck and collecting techniques and devices. The most common methods and devices for collecting shinning fungus beetles are sifting leaf litter, rotten wood and fungi, flight intercept (FIT) and V-flight intercept (V-FIT) traps, aspirators, sweeping, and hand collecting (Löbl & Leschen 2003; Tang et al. 2014; Löbl et al. 2021). Hand collecting is considered the best method, because the host fungi and larvae can be collected together to make associations (Löbl & Leschen 2003).

Additions to the Knowledge of Corticioid Xylodon (Schizoporaceae, Hymenochaetales): Introducing Three New Xylodon Species from Southern China

Three wood-inhabiting fungal species, Xylodon gossypinus, X. macrosporus, and X. sinensis spp. nov. were collected from southern China, with the similar function to decompose rotten wood, which are here proposed as new taxa based on a combination of morphological features and molecular evidence. Xylodon gossypinus is characterized by the resupinate basidiomata with cotton hymenophore, and ellipsoid basidiospores; X. macrosporus is characterized by the resupinate basidiomata having the cracking hymenophore with pale yellowish hymenial surface, and larger basidiospores 8–10.5 × 7.5–9 µm; and X. sinensis differs by its grandinioid hymenial surface and subglobose basidiospores measuring as 3–5 × 2.5–4 µm. Sequences of ITS and nLSU rRNA markers of the studied samples were generated, and phylogenetic analyses were performed with maximum likelihood, maximum parsimony, and Bayesian inference methods. The ITS+nLSU analysis in Hymenochaetales revealed that the three new species clustered into the Schizoporaceae family, located in genus Xylodon; based on the ITS dataset, X. gossypinus was a sister to X. ussuriensis; X. macrosporus closely grouped with X. follis with a high support; and X. sinensis was retrieved as two sisters to X. attenuatus and X. yarraensis with a lower support.

Utilization of community forest wood harvesting waste in Bone Pute Village, Burau District, East Luwu Regency

Timber in community forests can be utilized by the community by first removing it from the forest through the harvesting process. The harvesting process carried out has the potential for waste to be generated. This study aims to analyze the characteristics and potential of harvesting waste and develop alternative uses of waste into products that can be utilized by the community. Data were collected through field observations and making sample plots by purposive sampling on logging plots, skidding paths, plots on TPn, and plots on TPK. Analysis of the data used to determine the characteristics of the waste and its alternative uses, namely qualitative descriptive analysis and calculating the volume of waste using the Brereton empirical formula. The results showed that the characteristics of the wood waste found consisted of stump waste, branch-free stem waste with physical defects, twigs, short pieces, broken wood, and rotten wood. The potential logging waste that can be utilized is in the good category with an average volume of 1.56 m3 in the form of the stump, 2.85 m3 per log in the form of branch-free stems, and 2.45 m3 per log in the form of shortcuts. Alternative utilization of harvesting waste is based on the calculated characteristics and potential, waste can be used as firewood, waste with a diameter of 10 cm and above can be used as raw material for chips, boxes, and poles. Wood waste can also be utilized by the particleboard, fiberboard, finger-joint board, laminated board, pulp, and wood charcoal and charcoal briquette industries if the availability of raw waste materials is sustainable and in sufficient quantities.

Pluteus lauracearum (Agaricales, Basidiomycota), a new species of Pluteus sect. Hispidoderma from thermophilic Laurus forests

Pluteus lauracearum, a new species of Pluteus sect. Hispidoderma, is described and illustrated based on macro- and micromorphological data and phylogenetic analyses of the nuclear rDNA sequences of the ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 region. Morphologically, this novel species is characterized by small basidiomata having whitish to dark brown pileus colour, with finely to distinctly granulose surface, a white and translucently striate pileus margin, and mostly narrowly fusiform to lageniform pleurocystidia with long narrow necks and a distinctly subcapitate to capitate apex. This new species is described based on collections made in Turkey (Kuşadası) and Portugal (Madeira), where they were growing on well-rotten wood in thermophilic Laurus forests. Pluteus lauracearum is compared with taxa in Pluteus sect. Hispidoderma that are morphologically similar and/or phylogenetically related.

Capronia pilosella. [Descriptions of Fungi and Bacteria].

A description is provided for Capronia pilosella, found on unidentified, very rotten wood. Some information on its morphological characteristics, associated organisms and substrata, dispersal and transmission, habitats and economic impacts is given, along with details of its geographical distribution (Asia (China, Xinjiang Autonomous Region, Taiwan), Australasia (Australia, Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern Territory, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, New Zealand), Europe (Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, UK), North America (Canada, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, USA, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York), Pacific Ocean (Fiji), South America (Argentina, Brazil, Amazonas)).

Bioethanol Production from Locally Growing Algal Biomass: A Promising and Cost-effective Approach

Background: Energy production and consumption ratio form the hallmark of the economic prosperity of a country. To keep up with the demand and supply of energy a major switch to biofuels is reasoned but the cost associated with production and the choice of raw material forms two major economical and ethical concerns, especially in the under-developed and developing countries where the food is not sufficiently available to everyone. In this scenario, the use of food sources as raw material becomes unjustified. Purpose: To address these issues, here we made an effort to obtain bioethanol from a non-edible and easily available resource that requires a modest cost of production i.e., a locally available algal bloom. Also, different methods of pre-treatment were employed and scrutinized for their efficacy. These methods of pre-treatment are very cost-effective and easy to administer. Materials and Methods: The algal biomass was pre-treated separately in three ways viz., freeze-thawing, mechanical disruption and rotten wood treatment. The algal cake left out after extraction of lipid content for biodiesel production was also used as a fourth sample. After pre-treatment, the supernatant was collected and estimated for reducing sugar content and allowed to ferment using Saccharomyces cerevisiae. A distillate was obtained and checked for ethanol percentage through gas chromatography. Results: The mechanically disrupted sample yielded the highest percentage of ethanol followed by algal cake, freeze-thawing and rotten wood treatment. Conclusion: Given present food scarcity, the non-edible algae could be a better alternative for bioethanol production as compared to the use of conventional food crops. Through this study, we have found that a better yield can be achieved if the algal biomass is pre-treated via mechanical disruption.

A Gondwanan record of the extinct genus Cretobibio (Diptera: Bibionidae)

The Bibionidae or march flies are a dipteran family with a worldwide distribution, presently including over 750 species in the extant faunas (Hesperininae sometimes treated as a separate family) (Pape et al., 2009). Emergence of adults is markedly seasonal, and adults are often observed visiting flowers, apparently feeding on nectar, pollen, and honeydew (Fitzgerald, 2009). Larvae are mainly phyto-saprophagous, found on superficial soil layers, decaying organic matter, leaf litter, dung, and rotten wood (Krivosheina & Mamaev, 1967; Pinto & Amorim, 2000; Fitzgerald, 2009). Larvae of Bibionidae usually occur in dense aggregations in suitable habitats and adults emerge synchronously in huge numbers and often form dense mating aggregations (Skartveit, 2017).

Rhino Orbito-Cerebral Mucormycosis Prevention and Treatment guidelines in Covid-19 Pandemic- an E.N.T. Perspective

Mucormycosis (sometimes called zygomycosis) is a serious fungal infection caused by a group of moulds called mucormycetes. These fungi live throughout the environment, particularly in soil and in decaying organic matter, such as leaves, compost piles, or rotten wood. People get mucormycosis by coming in contact with the fungal spores in the environment. For example, the lung or sinus forms of the infection can occur after someone breathes in spores.