Fomitopsis betulina. [Descriptions of Fungi and Bacteria].

A description is provided for Fomitopsis betulina. Sporophores of this fungus are found on both living and dead trees, where the fungus causes a brown-rot decay of heartwood, eventually reducing the substratum to a red-brown friable mass. Some information on its associated organisms and substrata, dispersal and transmission, habitats and conservation status is given, along with details of its geographical distribution (Asia (China (Gansu, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Nei Mongol Autonomous Region, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Xinjiang Autonomous Region, Yunnan), India (Meghalaya, Uttarakhand), Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan (Akmola, East Kazakhstan, Kostanay, North Kazakhstan), Nepal, Russia (Altai Krai, Altai Republic, Amur Oblast, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Irkutsk Oblast, Kamchatka Krai, Khabarovsk Krai, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Novosibirsk Oblast, Omsk Oblast, Primorsky Krai, Sakha Republic, Sakhalin Oblast, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Tomsk Oblast, Tyumen Oblast, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Zabaykalsky Krai), South Korea, Uzbekistan), Central America (Belize, Panama), Europe (Åland Islands, Andorra, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia (Bryansk Oblast, Chuvash Republic, Ivanovo Oblast, Kaliningrad Oblast, Kaluga Oblast, Kirov Oblast, Komi Republic, Kostroma Oblast, Krasnodar Krai, Kursk Oblast, Leningrad Oblast, Mari El Republic, Moscow Oblast, Murmansk Oblast, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Orenburg Oblast, Perm Krai, Pskov Oblast, Republic of Bashkortostan, Republic of Dagestan, Republic of Karelia, Republic of Mordovia, Republic of Tatarstan, Ryazan Oblast, Samara Oblast, Saratov Oblast, Smolensk Oblast, Tula Oblast, Tver Oblast, Udmurt Republic, Vladimir Oblast, Yaroslavl Oblast), Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, UK), North America (Canada (Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Yukon Territory), USA (Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin)), South America (Argentina, Colombia)).

DNA protective activity of triterpenoids isolated from medicinal mushroom Fomitopsis betulina

Eleven 31-methylenlanostane triterpenoids, i.e. seven 21- and four 26-oic acids, as well as a lupane triterpenoid betulin, isolated from the fruiting bodies of the mushroom Fomitopsis betulina were tested for in vitro protective effect on chromosome aberrations in peripheral human lymphocytes using cytochalasin-B blocked micronucleus (CBMN) assay. Most of the tested compounds exerted a beneficial effect by reducing DNA damage of human lymphocytes more effectively than amifostine, a radioprotective agent, used as a positive control. All the tested compounds decreased MN frequency in concentration dependent manner, with the concentration of 2.0 ?g mL-1 being the most effective - with increase of the concentration the activity slightly decreases. The structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies indicated that the lanostanes containing a conjugated 7,9 (11)-diene system exhibit lower activity than D8-analogues. It was also demonstrated that the DNA protective activities within the D8-lanostane-26-oic acid group are affected by 3-substitution pattern. In the D8 series the oxygenation at C-12 or 16 as well as 21- or 26-oic acid functionality proved beneficial for in vitro protective effect on chromosomal aberrations. Betulin exhibited the lowest protective activity, but still comparable to that of amifostine.