• Mycobiology
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.171-182
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• 2009

Many aspergilli that belongs to ascomycetes have sexuality. In a homothallic or self-fertile fungus, a number of fruiting bodies or cleistothecia are formed in a thallus grown from a single haploid conidia or ascospores. Genome-sequencing project revealed that two mating genes (MAT) encoding the regulatory proteins that are necessary for controlling partner recognition in heterothallic fungi were conserved in most aspergilli. The MAT gene products in some self-fertile species were not required for recognition of mating partner at pheromone-signaling stage but required at later stages of sexual development. Various environmental factors such as nutritional status, culture conditions and several stresses, influence the decision or progression of sexual reproduction. A large number of genes are expected to be involved in sexual development of Emericella nidulans (anamorph: Aspergillus nidulans), a genetic and biological model organism in aspergilli. The sexual development process can be grouped into several development stages, including the decision of sexual reproductive cycle, mating process, growth of fruiting body, karyogamy followed by meiosis, and sporulation process. Complicated regulatory networks, such as signal transduction pathways and gene expression controls, may work in each stage and stage-to-stage linkages. In this review, the components joining in the regulatory pathways of sexual development, although they constitute only a small part of the whole regulatory networks, are briefly mentioned. Some of them control sexual development positively and some do negatively. Regarding the difficulties for studying sexual differentiation compare to asexual one, recent progresses in molecular genetics of E. nidulans enlarge the boundaries of understanding sexual development in the non-fertile species as well as in fertile fungi.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.128-151
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• 1972

Fourteen species of the hyphomyceteous fungi isolated from Korean soils are described and illustrated. Among these, one species has teleomorphic state and is identified as Emericella nidulans var. nidulans, similar to Emericella spectabilis with the exception of size of the conidiophores as well as color and the arrangement of the hulle cells. Four species of hyphomyceteous fungi. Chrysosporium pannorum, Doratomyces microsporus, Trichoderma Roningii, T. viride, are reported here for the first time in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.104-114
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• 1980

Fourteen species of the hyphomyceteous fungi isolated from Korean soils are described and illustrated. Among these, one species has teleomorphic state and is identified as Emericella nidulans var. nidulans, similar to Emericella spectabilis with the exception of size of the conidiophores as well as color and the arrangement of the hulle cells. Four species of hyphomyceteous fungi. Chrysosporium pannorum, Doratomyces microsporus, Trichoderma Roningii, T. viride, are reported here for the first time in Korea.

• Mycobiology
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.117-127
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• 2002

Cleistothecial development in Aspergillus nidulans(teleomorph, Emericella nidulans) was examined with the transmission electron microscopy. Cleistothecial initial was a small coiled lump of cells, ca. 6 ${\mu}m$ in diameter, which was consisted of a slightly swollen core with a short "tail" hypha. Initials were wrapped with a loose layer of hyphae. Core cells of cleistothecial initials were broad and multinucleated at first, then formed dikaryotic ascogenous cells, followed by post-meiotic tetra-nucleate or octa-nucleate protoasci and finally mature ascospores. Croziers were formed early during cleistothecium development. The peridial layer of mature cleistothecia was derived from the wrapping hyphae which originally invested the young cleistothecium. Completion of peridial layers development was associated with the depositing of a non-enzyme reactive material around peridial cells. $H\ddot{u}lle$ cell formation during the cleistothecial development appeared to be somewhat coordinated with the developmental stages of cleistothecium.

• Mycobiology
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.167-172
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• 2008

Beef luncheon meat is one of the most popular meals in several countries in the world including Egypt. Thirty one fungal species and 3 species varieties were recovered from 30 samples of beef luncheon meat collected from different supermarkets in Qena. Alternaria, Aspergillus, Emericella, Mucor, Mycosphaerella, Penicillium and Rhizopus were the most common genera on the two types of media. From the above genera, the most prevalent species were Alternaria alternate, Aspergillus flavus, A. fumigatus, A. niger, A. terreus, Emericella nidulans, Mucor racemosus, Mycosphaerella tassiana, Penicillium chrysogenum and Rhizopus stolonifer. Screening of fungi for their abilities to produce lipase enzyme showed that, ten isolates represented 32.26% of total isolates appeared high lipase production, while sixteen isolates (51.61%) were moderate and 5 isolates (16.13%) were low producers. Aspergillus niger, Fusarium oxysporum and Nectria haematococca produced the highest amount of lipase enzyme, so these fungi were used in further studies. The incorporation of five food preservatives (Disodium phosphate, sodium benzoate, citric acid, potassium sorbate and sodium citrate) individually in the culture medium of lipase production exhibited an inhibitive effect on the mycelial growth and enzyme production by Aspergillus niger, Fusarium oxysporum and Nectria haematococca.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.15-21
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• 2016

Aspergillus is the most common opportunistic fungus causing infection. Aspergillus is the most morphologically identified in the laboratory. Recently, molecular genetic methods have been proposed for identification of fungi that unidentified morphologically or identified genus level. Of 475 cases of Aspergillus isolated from clinical specimens, there were Aspergillus fumigatus 257 (54.1%), A. niger 101 (21.3%), A. flavus 43 (9.1%), A. terreus 29 (6.1%), Aspergillus nidulans 2 (0.4%), Aspergillus clavatus 1 (0.2%), and the Aspergillus species 42 (8.8%). Eleven cases of unidentified or identified at the genus level included Aspergillus fumigatus 5, Aspergillus falvus 1, Aspergillus terreus 1, and Aspergillus lentulus 1 was identified in the sequencing of the strain level. It was identified as Aspergillus versicolor 2, and Emericella parvathecia 1. 92.2% of Aspergillus was identified as a possible morphological, 8.8% could not be identified at the species level. Sequence-based molecular analysis using the ITS and D1D2 is considered useful for identification of the species level.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.187-195
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• 1987

Two kinds of heat treatment method for the selective isolation of soil fungi to eliminate the commonest fungi and also to examine the vertical and seasonal distributions of the fungal population were applied to soil samples from two plots around Seoul area. The incubation method at $42^{\circ}C$ and heat treatment at $70^{\circ}C$ were used in this experiment. In the incubation method, the almost all the fungi isolated from two plots were mesophile, while the thermotolerant fungi was Aspergillus fumigatus and thermophilic fungi were Sporotrichum thermophile and Malbranchea pulchella var. sulfrea. The most dominant species isolated by this method was A. fumigatus. Nine genera and fourteen species were isolated from the two plots, and S. thermophile, Talaromyces ucrainicus,Malbranchea pulchella var. sulfrea were new to Korea. From the selection method by heat treatment at $70^{\circ}C$, ten genera and twenty species were isolated. Among these, the most fungi were also mesophile and thermotolerant fungus was A. fumigatus. The most dominant species isolated by this method was T. stipitatus, Talaromyces helicus var. major, Emericella nidulans var. nidulans, Chaetomium subspirale and Neosartorya fisheri var. fisheri were new to Korea. From the two isolation methods, it was found that the total number of soil fungi and frequency of species appeared including dominant ones were the highest at the soils of upper layer while the lowest at the soils of lower layer in its vertical distribution.

• Mycobiology
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.77-83
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• 2005

Seventy-three fungal species belonging to forty-three genera were isolated from 40 samples of Saccharrum officinarum (collected from Naage-Hamadi canal in Qena Governorate, Egypt). Aspergillus, Trichoderma, Mucor and Pythium were the most common genera on the two isolation media. The dominant species of Aspergillus were A. niger, A. flavus, A. ustus, A. terreus and A. wentii. Some species were dominant on 40 g/l sucrose such as Aspergillus niger, A. flavus, Emericella nidulans, Trichoderma viride, Torula herbarum and Mamaria echinoeotryoides, while the dominant species on 10 g/l glucose were Mucor circinelloides, Aspergillus niger, Torula herbarum and Trichoderma viride. Mycotoxins including aflatoxins $B_1,\;B_2,\;G_1\;and\;G_2$, zearalenone and diacetoxyscirpenol were detected in the examined samples of Saccharrum officinarum. The mycelial growth of A. flavus, A. niger, Fusarium moniliforme and Torula herbarum decreased with the increase in Dimethoate concentrations, although 25 ppm was less effective than the higher levels of the insecticide ($75{\sim}200\;ppm$). Dimethoate stimulated the activity of Go-Tin A. niger, F. moniliforme and T. harbarum, while the Go-T activity was inhibited in A. flavus with the Dimethoate treatments.

• Mycobiology
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.137-149
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• 2015

In the search for novel potent fungi-derived bioactive compounds for bioinsecticide applications, crude ethyl acetate culture filtrate extracts from 110 mangrove fungal endophytes were screened for their toxicity. Toxicity tests of all extracts against brine shrimp (Artemia salina) larvae were performed. The extracts with the highest toxicity were further examined for insecticidal activity against Spodoptera litura larvae and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibition activity. The results showed that the extracts of five isolates exhibited the highest toxicity to brine shrimp at 50% lethal concentration ($LC_{50}$) values of 7.45 to 10.24 ppm. These five fungal isolates that obtained from Rhizophora mucronata were identified based on sequence data analysis of the internal transcribed spacer region of rDNA as Aspergillus oryzae (strain BPPTCC 6036), Emericella nidulans (strains BPPTCC 6035 and BPPTCC 6038), A. tamarii (strain BPPTCC 6037), and A. versicolor (strain BPPTCC 6039). The mean percentage of S. litura larval mortality following topical application of the five extracts ranged from 16.7% to 43.3%. In the AChE inhibition assay, the inhibition rates of the five extracts ranged from 40.7% to 48.9%, while eserine (positive control) had an inhibition rate of 96.8%, at a concentration of 100 ppm. The extracts used were crude extracts, so their potential as sources of AChE inhibition compounds makes them likely candidates as neurotoxins. The high-performance liquid chromatography profiles of the five extracts differed, indicating variations in their chemical constituents. This study highlights the potential of culture filtrate ethyl acetate extracts of mangrove fungal endophytes as a source of new potential bioactive compounds for bioinsecticide applications.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.145-148
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• 2006

A new functional lipolytic enzyme (AT4) has recently been found from Agrobacterium tumefaciens C58 Cereon using a genome-wide approach. The enzyme has some sequence similarity to E. coli acetyl hydrolase, Emericella nidulans lipase, Moraxella sp. lipase, Acinetobacter lwoffii esterase, and Streptomyces hygroscopicus acetyl hydrolase. However, the sequence similarities are very low (less than $25\%$), suggesting that it is a new lipase/esterase enzyme. ill the present study, intact cell of the A. tumefaciens strain was shown to have lipolytic activity on a tributyrin-LB plate. The AT4 gene was then expressed at a high level in E. coli BL21 (DE3) cells and the enzyme was purified simply by Ni-NTA column chromatography. The purified enzyme showed hydrolytic activity toward p-nitrophenyl caproate, but not toward olive oil, suggesting that the AT4 enzyme was a typical esterase rather than lipase. AT4 esterase had a maximum hydrolytic activity at $45^{\circ}C$ and pH 8.0, when p-nitrophenyl caproate was used as a substrate. It was relatively stable up to $40^{\circ}C$ and at pH 5.0-9.0. Calcium ion and EDT A did not affect the activity and thermal stability of the enzyme. As for substrate specificity, AT4 enzyme could rapidly hydrolyze acetyl and butyl groups from p-nitrophenyl esters and 1-naphthyl esters. In addition, it also released acetyl residues from acetylated glucose and xylose substrates. Therefore, this new esterase enzyme might be used as a biocatalyst in acetylation and deacetylation reactions performed in the fine chemical industry.