Current Biotechnology - Volume 7, Issue 1, 2018

Background: This is the first report of hyaluronan lyase discovery in filamentous fungi, and the second case of hyaluronan hydrolase production by micromycetes. Hyaluronan (HA) is a glycosaminoglycan composed of Nacetyl- D-glucosamine and D-glucuronic acid. Whereas HA is the major constituent of extracellular matrix and an important regulator of many biological processes in vertebrates, HA degrading enzymes hyalu Read More

Background: Cultivation and media optimization is one way to improve hemicellulase production in Aspergillus niger, but bioprocess approaches have limitations due to the carbon catabolite repression (CCR) process. Objective: This study aimed to improve hemicellulase production by genetic modifications at CCR levels in A. niger strain. Method: Deletion of the creA gene to derepress the expression of the hemicellulolytic gene Read More

Background: Trichoderma viride is a cellulose-biodegrading fungus which produces high amount of cellulases with a higher ratio of β-glucosidase/total cellulase in its enzyme mixture compared to that in the enzyme complex of T. reesei strains. The culture optimization for cellulase production by T. viride has not been previously studied. Consequently, investigation on the enhancement of its enzyme activity and prod Read More

Background: The focus of this study was the production of a multi-enzyme complex (MC) (xylanase, amylase and cellulase) originating from the fungus Trichoderma harzianum (ALL 42 strain), specific for corn-soybean meal-based substrates, and its subsequent use in the diet of broiler chicks. Methods: Spores of T. harzianum were inoculated in TLE medium containing 0.5% of corn-soybeanbased starter feeds for broiler Read More

Background: In addition to culinary uses, edible and medicinal mushrooms have long been consumed throughout the world as traditional treatments for both acute and chronic human diseases. As a consequence, a great deal of modern research has been conducted with the aim of identifying the compounds responsible for their purported positive health effects. Despite a fairly large body of published data on the pot Read More

Background: Endophytic fungi isolated from medicinal plants have been recognized as promising sources of highly variable bioactive metabolites. Maytenus ilicifolia, a highly exploited medicinal plant commonly used in popular medicine, is included in the current list of endangered species. Our research group is particularly interested in bioprospecting endophytes from medicinal plants found in Brazil, to control citrus diseases. In Read More

Background: Metarhizium anisopliae controls insect pest populations and commercial formulations are based on conidia, regularly produced in plastic bags using rice grains as substrate. This process is labour- intensive and difficult to control; optimisation represents a current problem, even using different types of bioreactors. However, comparisons between Metarhizium conidia production in bags and packed columns are sc Read More