Executive Committee

Editor's Desk

M.J. Thirumalachar : His multidimensional contributions to biological sciences and technology

M. C. Srinivasan

R.H. 17, Planet Millennium, Pimple Saudagar, Pune - 411 027, India

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I am deeply honoured to be invited to contribute an article highlighting the scientific contributions of Dr. M.J.Thirumalachar for publication in an issue of KAVAKA dedicated to him in his Birth Centenary year (2014). I wish to place on record my appreciation of the decision of the Managing committee of Mycological Society of India to honour Dr. Thirumalachar as well as Prof. C.V.Subramanian on his 90th birthday in a similar manner. The opportunity to write this article has a profound emotional effect on me as a member of his family,- being his nephew who drew inspiration while being associated with him for two decades learning Mycology and Fungal Biotechnology.

Role of mycology and mycologists in an era of industrial biotechnology

M. C. Srinivasan

Row House 17, Planet Millennium, Pimple Saudagar, Pune- 411 027, India

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(Submitted in October, 2014; Accepted on December 5, 2014

ABSTRACT

While reflecting on the life and scientific contributions of Dr. M.J.Thirumalachar, I am amazed at the way he grew up with the times and acquired the necessary skills to contribute meaningfully as a mycologist to the rapidly advancing discipline of Industrial Biotechnology. He was truly ahead of his times in his thinking and vision and if we take a leaf out of his book and evaluate its relevance in the context of today's requirements for innovative research and development ,we will definitely see the need for mycologists to gear up and get prepared for making meaningful contributions to Biotechnology in the twenty first century. I will attempt to review the role of mycology and mycologists in an era of industrial biotechnology and offer it as my humble tribute to Dr.Thirumalachar in the Kavaka publication commemorating his birth centenary.

Keywords: Mycology, mycologist, fungal diversity, conservation, biotechnology

Isolation of keratinophilic fungi from selected soils of The Gir Forest National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary, Gujarat, (India)

Sunil Kumar Deshmukh and Shilpa Amit Verekar

Department of Natural Products, Piramal Enterprises Limited, 1, Nirlon Complex, Off Western Express Highway, Near NSE Complex, Goregaon (East), Mumbai 400 063, India

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(Submitted in November, 2014; Accepted on December 20, 2014)

ABSTRACT

Eighty samples were collected from six different sites in the vicinity of Gir Forest National Park and screened for the presence of keratinophilic fungi using hair baiting technique for isolation. Seventy three isolates were recovered and identified. The cultures were identified using macro- and micro morphological features. Their identification was also confirmed by the BLAST search of sequences of the ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 rDNA region against the NCBI/Genbank data and compared with deposited sequences for identification purpose. Ten species of seven genera were isolated, viz. Aphanoascus durus (2.50 %), Aphanoascus fulvuscence (5.00 %), Arthrographis kalrae (2.50 %), Auxarthron conjugatum (1.25 %), Chrysosporium indicum (16.25 %), Chrysosporium tropicum (6.25 %), Chrysosporium zonatum (3.75 %), Chrysosporium state of Ctenomyces serratus (7.50 %), Microsporum gypseum (12.50 %), and Trichophyton mentagrophytes (3.75 %). This study indicates that the soils of Gir Forest National Park may be significant reservoirs of certain keratinophilic fungi.

Key words: India, keratinophilic fungi, Gir Forest National Park, soil fungi,

Taeniolina echinata-A new species of hyphomycetous (mitosporic) fungus from North India

I. B. Prasher and Rajnish Kumar Verma*

Department of Botany, Mycology and Plant Pathology Laboratory, Panjab University, Chandigarh 160014, India

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(Submitted in October, 2014; Accepted on December 10, 2014)

ABSTRACT

Taeniolina echinata sp. nov. Collected on dead leaf of Vanda sp. is described and illustrated from Chandigarh, North India. It is characterized by integrated, terminal or intercalary, polyblastic conidiogenous cells with catenate, pale olivaceous- brown, echinate, 1 to 3 septate conidia. A synoptic tabular account of all the species of the genus is provided for the comparison.

Keywords: Anamorphic fungi, Hyphomycetes, Taxonomy

Influence of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and different salinity levels on growth enhancement and nutrient uptake of Gossypium arboreum L.

Neetu Badda, Ashok Aggarwal*, Nisha Kadian and Navnita Sharma

Mycology and Plant Pathology Laboratory, Department of Botany, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, Haryana-136119, India

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(Submitted in October, 2014; Accepted on December 2, 2014)

ABSTRACT

A pot experiment was conducted to see the effect of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, i.e., Glomus mosseae and Acaulospora laevis on cotton (Gossypium arboreum L.) in the presence of different salinity levels, i.e., 4 dSm-1, 8 dSm-1 and 12 dSm-1 with five replicates resulted in effective plant height, shoot and root biomass, root length, leaf area, root colonization, AM spore number, stomatal conductance, chlorophyll content, phosphorus content, nitrogen content, potassium content, sodium content, fibre yield and acidic and alkaline phosphatase activity. Under saline conditions, mycorrhizal inoculation significantly increased growth parameters as well as nutrient uptake of cotton plants over control. All growth parameters were found to be highest in dual combination of Glomus mosseae + Acaulospora laevis at 4 dSm-1 salinity level whereas sodium content was found to be highest in dual combination of Glomus mosseae + Acaulospora laevis at 8 dSm-1 salinity level. Overall results showed that AM colonization improves host plant mineral concentration and thereby increases the growth, yield and nutrient uptake of cotton plants by ameliorating the harmful effect of salinity stress.

Keywords: Glomus mosseae, Acaulospora laevis, Gossypium arboreum, growth, mineral uptake, salinity stress

Studies on endophytic fungi of commercially important tropical tree species in India.

N. Senthilkumar, V. Mohan and S.Murugesan

Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding, Forest Campus, R.S. Puram, Coimbatore-641002, Tamilnadu

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(Submitted in September, 2014; Accepted on November 25, 2014)

ABSTRACT

India targets to increase the forest cover to 33% by 2020 through programmes like Tree outside Forests (TOF) and Tree Cultivation in Private lands (TCPL). Cultivation of fast growing tree species for fuel and fodder in cultivable wastelands and uncultivable barren land has been encouraged. While planting efforts are on full swing to increase green cover, however, it is reported that about 1 million ha of forest area is being destroyed by insect pests annually, hence management of insect pests in domesticated forestry is much needed. Synthetic organic insecticides have emerged as major tools in pest management. About 3% of the total pesticides used in the world are utilized in India. It has been reported that about 2.5 million tons of chemical pesticides are used on crops each year. The toxicity of these chemicals results in residues in soil, water resources and crops that affect public health, hence there is a need to develop ecologically sound, environmentally safe and economically viable insect pest management strategies. Biological control has become an important tool for Integrated Pest Management (IPM). Use of microorganisms for the management of insect pests and diseases is risk free. Endophytic fungi are microorganisms that offer great-untapped effective solution for insect pest management. Several endophytic microbes are known to have anti-insect properties. The fungal endophytes protect their hosts from infectious agents and adverse conditions through secretion of bioactive secondary metabolites. In the present study, an attempt was made to isolate and identify the diversity status of endophytic fungi from commercially important tropical tree species viz.,Tectona grandis (Teak), Ailanthus excelsa (Ailanthus) and Gmelina arborea (Gmelina). A total of 18 species of endophytic fungi belonging to 13 genera and 58 strains were isolated from young and mature leaves of Teak, Ailanthus and Gmelina. Diversity and richness of endophytic fungi was found high in Teak followed by Ailanthus and Gmelina. Population of endophytic fungal species isolated from Teak, Ailanthus and Gmelina was found to be low and has not attained the expected population. It is also expressed in the rarefaction curve that it didn't reach asymptote curve, hence chances of encountering more number of species will be possible if the number of sampling unit increases. Of the 18 species, five species with one strain each were found to possess entomopathogenic significance based on preliminary bioassay studies. Future study will focus on biopesticidal properties of these fungi to develop novel biopesticide.

Keywords: Endophytic fungi, rhizosphere, phyllosphere, tropical tree species.

Biodegradation efficiency of Aspergillus awamori (MTCC-548) against Rose Bengal: A toxic dye for human corneal epithelium.

Sukhvinder Singh Purewal

Department of Biotechnology, Chaudhary Devi Lal University, Sirsa 125-055, India

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(Submitted in October, 2014; Accepted on December 9, 2014)

ABSTRACT

Biodegradation experiment was performed by growing Aspergillus awamori (MTCC-548), a filamentous fungal strain on czapek broth media containing a known conc. of Rose Bengal dye (100 mg/L) at 30±2 °C for a period of 10 days. It was found that incubation of 10 days (3 Days Shaking: 7 Days Static) significantly enhanced the biodegradation efficiency. Results obtained on 10th day revealed that increased biomass is quite helpful in removal of dye from water source by adsorption process. Maximum removal (99.74%) of dye was found on 10th day. The results from the present work clearly demonstrates the potential of filamentous fungal strain towards removal of colored products from waste water.

Keywords: Adsorption, Aspergillus awamori, biodegradation, industrial effluents, Rose Bengal.

Studies on the biology of Cordyceps militaris: A medicinal mushroom from North West Himalaya

Pooja Pathania* and Anand Sagar

Dept. of Biosciences, Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla-5.

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(Submitted in August, 2014; Accepted on November 20, 2014)

ABSTRACT

Cordyceps militaris (L.) Link is an entomopathogenic fungus, which enjoyed an extensive medicinal utility. In this study, taxonomic details, isolation of pure culture, influence of different physiological requirements on the mycelia growth of this fungus, its chemical components and molecular characterization has been carried out. The present investigation revealed that this fungus showed optimum growth in YPDA (yeastal potato dextrose agar) and GAS (glucose asparagine solution). The maximum mycelial growth was observed at 25 oC and pH 7.5 and 5.5 in solid and liquid media, respectively. Among various carbon, nitrogen, mineral and vitamin sources tested, sucrose, beef extract, zinc chloride and folic acid produced the maximum mycelial yield, respectively. The fungus was found rich in various chemical components like vitamins, proteins trace elements, cordycepin and cordycepic acid. C. militaris has been successfully cultivated under lab scale cultivation trials under standardized nutritional and climatic conditions.

Keywords: Cordyceps militaris, medicinal mushroom, entomopathogenic fungus, artificial cultivation, nutritional components.

Effect of bio-inoculants on seed germination and disease control of commercially important fast growing native tree species in nursery

S.S. Sreedhar1 and V. Mohan*

Division of Forest Protection, Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding, Coimbatore 641 002

Chief Conservator of Forests, Wildlife Management Circle, Eluru, Andhra Pradesh

*Corresponding author email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

(Submitted in September, 2014; Accepted on November 25, 2014)

ABSTRACT

Different bio-inoculants (Arbuscular Mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR)) were tested individually and in combinations on seed germination and survival of seedlings of four fast growing native tree species Ailanthus excelsa, Gmelina arborea, Melia dubia and Neolamarckia cadamba against the plant pathogenic fungus, Fusarium oxysporum causing root rot in nurseries. It was observed that application of bio-inoculants individually and in different combinations showed increased seed germination, better survival and growth of seedlings of all the four tree species even in the presence of the pathogen, F. oxysporum. Maximum percentage of seed germination was recorded in combined application of all four bio-inoculants along with Fusarium in all the four tree species. This was followed by AMF + Azo + Fusarium in Ailanthus excelsa, Gmelina arborea and Neolamarckia cadamba and AMF + Azoto + Fusarium in Melia dubia.

Keywords: Bio-inoculents, potting medium, AM fungi, disease control

Taxonomic study on species of Agrocybe (Strophariaceae, Agaricales) collected on dung from Punjab, India

Amandeep Kaur ¹*, NS Atri ² and Munruchi Kaur ²

1 Desh Bhagat College of Education, BardwalDhuri148024, Punjab, India.
2 Department of Botany, Punjabi University, Patiala147002, Punjab, India.

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(Submitted in October, 2014; Accepted on December 12, 2014)

ABSTRACT

This paper gives an account of two Agrocybe species, viz. A. microspora and A. pediades collected from coprophilous habitats of Punjab state. The taxonomic details of these taxa is given along with the drawings of their morphological and anatomical features. Agrocybe microspora forms a new record for India and A. pediades is being recorded for the first time from Punjab.

Key words: Basidiomycota, clamp connections, coprophilous, systematics

Diversity and physiology of deep-sea yeasts: A review

Purnima Singh and Chandralata Raghukumar ¹

¹313, Tamra, Vainguinim Valley, Dona Paula, Goa 403 004. India.

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(Submitted in November, 2014; Accepted on December 13, 2014)

ABSTRACT

Yeasts are unicellular form of ascomycetous and basidiomycetous fungi present ubiquitously in various habitats. They play significant role of saprotrophy, mineralization and biological degradation, forming an important constituent of different ecological niches. Most of the studies have focused on the diversity of yeasts from terrestrial environments till date, while their marine and deep-sea counterparts have not received sufficient attention. Being a promising source of
biotechnologically active products owing to their capability of tolerating extreme environmental conditions, the diversity of yeasts from deep-sea environment needs to be explored in detail. This review is an approach to summarize the available diversity assemblage of yeast from various deep-sea habitats reported till date based on culture-dependent as well as culture-independent methods. In addition, the potential novel yeast species reported from the above habitat, their physiology and applications are documented. Detailed diversity studies of yeasts from various deep-sea habitats in order to get deeper insight on novel strains is recommended for future studies. Efforts to get uncultivable forms in culture may be one of the future prospects for obtaining strains with enormous biotechnological potentials.

Keywords: Culture-dependent approach, culture-independent approach, deep-sea habitat, elevated hydrostatic pressure, psychrotolerant yeast.

Lasiodiplodia indica -A new species of coelomycetous mitosporic fungus from India

Indu Bhushan Prasher* and Gargi Singh

Department of Botany, Mycology and Plant Pathology Laboratory, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India

* Corresponding author email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

(Submitted in November, 2014; Accepted on December 20, 2014)

ABSTRACT

Lasiodiplodia indica sp. nov. is described as a new species based on morphological characteristics and DNA sequence data of ITS1 and ITS4. It differs from other species in the nature of the conidiomata, conidial septation, branching and septation of paraphyses. Detailed description, taxonomical remarks, and illustrations are provided.

Key words: Coelomycetes, conidiomata, ITS, phylogeny, taxonomy

Genus Hyphodontia J. Erikss. in district Shimla (Himachal Pradesh)

Maninder Kaur, Avneet Pal Singh * and G. S. Dhingra

Department of Botany, Punjabi University, Patiala 147002

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(Submitted in November, 2014; Accepted on December 18, 2014)

ABSTRACT

An account of seven species of genus Hyphodontia J. Erikss. has been given, with 3 (H. abieticola, H. alutacea and H. barbojovis) new records for India and H. pruni as first report from the study area.

Key words: Basidiomycota, Agaricomycetes, Schizoporaceae, Hymenochaetales, North Western Himalaya.

Potential of Pleurotus sajor caju to synthesize Silver nanoparticles and evaluation of antibacterial activity and their role as antibiotic activity enhancer

Deepak K. Rahi* and Madhurika Barwal

Department of Microbiology, Panjab University Chandigarh- 160014, India.

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(Submitted in October, 2014; Accepted on December 20, 2014)

ABSTRACT

Pleurotus sajor caju, commonly known as oyster mushroom, has been used in food for a long time. Many useful properties of this fungus are still being studied. Presently the biosynthetic potential of silver nanoparticles using this fungus has been determined, characterized and their antibacterial and antibiotic activity enhancing properties reported. The synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNps) was judged by change in color of the reaction mixture and confirmed with UV-VIS spectroscopy. The characterization of synthesized silver nanoparticles for their size, shape and dispersity was done by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) while the presence of different functional groups was characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The TEM study showed the formation of silver nanoparticles in the range of 4-22 nm and FTIR revealed the presence of proteins, amino acids, aromatic compounds, alcohols, aldehydes and carboxylic acids which may be responsible for the reduction and stability of the silver nanoparticles. Determination of antibacterial activities of the synthesized silver nanoparticles revealed remarkable antagonistic action against Methicillin resistance Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli. Also AgNPs were further evaluated for their role as antibiotic enhancers with some broad spectrum antibiotics (Methicillin, Penicillin, Amoxycillin and Ampicillin) which showed an increase in efficiency of these antibiotics when used in combination with AgNps.

Key Words: Pleurotus sajor caju, silver nanoparticles, antibacterial activity, antibiotic activity enhancer

Advances in applied mycology and fungal biotechnology*

C. Manoharachary**, I.K. Kunwar and A.B. Rajithasri

Department of Botany, Osmania University, Hyderabad - 500007, Telangana, India.

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(Submitted on December 10, 2014; Accepted on December 20, 2014)

ABSTRACT

Fungi are achlorophyllous and eukaryotic living organisms specifically having chitinous cell wall and absorptive nutrition. The peculiar characters possessed by fungi made them to raise it to a level of Kingdom Mycota. Around 1.5 million fungi are estimated. One lakh species are reported from the world, while 29,000 fungal species are reported from India. Fungal world is so large that what we know is a drop of Atlantic Ocean. Nature represents a formidable pool of bioactive compounds and is more than ever a strategic source for new and successful commercial products. Fungi are well recognized to produce a wide variety of chemical structures, several of which are most valuable pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals and industrial products. The world of fungi provides a fascinating and almost endless source of biological diversity, which is a rich source for exploitation. Fungi form nature's hidden wealth and need exhaustive and in depth studies. In view of the above, studies on biodiversity and bioprospecting of fungi has gained momentum and importance. This review is a humble contribution pertaining to beautiful world of fungi and their biotechnological aspects.

Keywords: Agrochemicals, biodiversity, biotechnology, fungi, industrial products, pharmaceuticals.