First evidence for truffle production from plants inoculated with mycelial pure cultures.

Truffle (Tuber spp.) cultivation is based on raising mycorrhizal trees in greenhouses that have been inoculated with suspensions of ascospores. The problem with this is that pests, pathogens, and other mycorrhizal fungi can contaminate the trees. Furthermore, because ascospores are produced sexually, each plant potentially has a different genetic mycorrhizal makeup from each other so tailoring the mycorrhizal component of plants to suit a particular set of soil and climatic conditions is out of the question. Here, we report on the production of Tuber borchii-mycorrhized plants using pure cultures, establishing a truffière with these and subsequent production of its fruiting bodies. This study opens up the possibility of producing commercial numbers of Tuber-mycorrhized trees for truffle cultivation using mycelial inoculation techniques. It also poses questions about the mechanism of fertilization between the different strains which were located in different parts of the experimental truffière.

Comparison of Two Schizophyllum commune Strains in Production of Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitors and Antioxidants from Submerged Cultivation.

In recent years, fungi have been recognized as producers of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors, agents important for the prevention of Alzheimer's disease (AD). This study aimed to examine the AChE inhibitory, the antioxidative and antibacterial activity of two different Schizophyllum commune strains that originated from Serbia (SRB) and Italy (IT). Submerged cultivation of grown mycelia (M) and fermentation broth (F) of ethanol (EtOH) and polysaccharide (PSH) extracts lasted for 7, 14, 21 and 28 days. For AChE activity Ellman method was performed, while for antioxidative activity, sevendifferent assays were conducted: DPPH, ABTS, FRAP, SOA, OH, NO together with total phenolic content. Antimicrobial screen, LC-MS/MS technique and FTIR measurements were performed. Different isolates exhibited different AChE activity, with PSH being the strongest (SRB, M, 28 days IC90 79.73 ± 26.34 µg/mL), while in EtOH extracts, IT stood out (F, 14 days, IC50 0.8 ± 0.6 µg/mL). PSH extracts (7 days) exhibit significant antioxidative activity (AO), opposite to EtOH extracts where 14 and 21days periods stood out. Only tw extracts showed antibacterial activity. Following LC-MS/MS analysis p-hydroxybenzoic and gallic acids were the most abundant phenolics. PSH extracts demonstrated remarkable results, making this study debut and introducing S. commune as a valuable resource of AChE inhibitors.

Canning Processes Reduce the DNA-Based Traceability of Commercial Tropical Tunas.

Canned tuna is one of the most widely traded seafood products internationally and is of growing demand. There is an increasing concern over the vulnerability of canned tuna supply chains to species mislabelling and fraud. Extensive processing conditions in canning operations can lead to the degradation and fragmentation of DNA, complicating product traceability. We here employed a forensically validated DNA barcoding tool (cytochrome b partial sequences) to assess the effects of canning processes on DNA degradation and the identification of four tropical tuna species (yellowfin, bigeye, skipjack and longtail tuna) collected on a global scale, along their commercial chains. Each species was studied under five different canning processes i.e., freezing, defrosting, cooking, and canning in oil and brine, in order to investigate how these affect DNA-based species identification and traceability. The highest percentage of nucleotide substitutions were observed after brine-canning operations and were greatest for yellowfin and skipjack tuna. Overall, we found that DNA degradation significantly increased along the tuna canning process for most specimens. Consequently, most of the specimens canned in oil or brine were misidentified due to the high rate of nucleotide substitution in diagnostic sequences.

Ultra-Low Freezing to Preserve the Lingzhi or Reishi Medicinal Mushroom Ganoderma lucidum (Agaricomycetes).

Ganoderma lucidum (Curtis) P. Karst., commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine, is characterized by strong genetic and phenotypic variability that reflects its active components. To preserve such a source of pharmacologically active metabolites, specimens must be collected from different geographic regions and their genetic integrity ensured during storage. To this aim, we tested the effect of ultra-low freezing (ULF) at -120°C on the vitality, mycelial growth rate, and fruiting ability of 3 Italian strains of G. lucidum. Results showed that all strains reacted positively to ULF, demonstrating an ability to recover after 3 months of storage without morphological or physiological changes occurring, regardless of treatment. The successful storage of G. lucidum at -120°C opens up the possibility to create a germplasm bank to collect strains of this medicinal fungus from throughout Europe, thereby contributing to the maintenance of its diversity.