New species of Mallocybe (Agaricales, Inocybaceae) from Pakistan, based on morphological and molecular evidence.

Within the family Inocybaceae, many species of Mallocybe have been reported, but there are only a few reports of this genus from Pakistan. In this study, six collections of Mallocybe were studied by morphological and phylogenetic methods. Phylogenetic analyses, based on sequence data from two different loci (ITS and LSU) using Maximum Likelihood and Maximum Parsimony methods, have been performed to infer species relationships within Mallocybe. Results indicated that these six collections encompass two new species of Mallocybe i.e. M.pakistanica and M.pinicola, from Pakistan. Their detailed morphological descriptions and illustrations are also provided. In addition, comparison with morphologically closely-related taxa is also discussed. Previously, only two species of this genus have been recorded from Pakistan and, with this addition, the total number of reported taxa of Mallocybe has been raised to four from Pakistan. A key to the described taxa of Mallocybe from Pakistan is also provided.

Biocompatible formulations based on mycosynthesized iron oxide nanoparticles: Fabrication, characterization, and biological investigation.

The current study was carried out to synthesize iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) via green reduction method from a wild mushroom collected from Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan. The collected fungus was identified as Daedalea sp. based on morphological characteristics. Prepared NPs were produced from iron chloride hexahydrate with fungal filtrate via combustion method. The as prepared NPs were characterized by using different techniques for example, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffractions (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and ultraviolet visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy. Morphology and size of the NPs were determined by SEM analysis. XRD study revealed crystalline nature of IONPs. The FT-IR spectrum exhibited peak at 3390.26 cm- 1 stretching that described the strong O-H band of the alcohol associated with mushroom texture. The major IONPs dose (0.75 mg/ml) demonstrated 71% growth inhibition against Aspergillus. Excellent antibacterial activities against Pseudomonas aeruginosa (28 mm), and Klesbsilla pneumonia (28 mm) were represented by the fabricated NPs. Further, highest reducing power (53.22 ± 0.72 µg AAE/mg) was shown by the highest administrated dose (400 µg/ml). Maximum 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl and trolox antioxidant activity free radical scavenging activities at 400 µg/ml IONPs concentration were noted as 51.29 ± 0.48, and 83.12 ± 0.28 trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity, respectively. In brief, the negligible hemolytic activity against human red blood cells at the highest concentration (400 µg/ml), as well as, moderate antioxidant activities at low concentration suggest the application of the fabricated NPs in environmentally sound viable hygiene production.

Coprinopsis afrocinerea (Agaricales, Psathyrellaceae): First record from Asia (Pakistan).

In this work, we introduced a new report, Coprinopsis afrocinerea, a coprinoid mushroom from Pakistan. This species was collected several times during the monsoon season; it was found growing on animal dung and on sandy soil mixed with wood chips and leaf litter. This taxon was identified through morphological (macro- and micromorphology) techniques and molecular (ITS-region) markers. Results showed that Pakistani collection's macro- and micro-morphological characters match the type specimen of Coprinopsis afrocinerea. In the phylogenetic tree, sequences of our collections fall within section Cinereae and are clustered with type sequences of Coprinopsis afrocinerea with strong statistical support. This species has already been reported from Africa and is described here for the first time from Asia. Previously, only seven species of Coprinopsis have been reported from Pakistan, and in this study, the number of known taxa has increased to eight. This paper provides a detailed morphological and molecular analysis of this species to differentiate it from closely related taxa.

Hg(II) sensing, catalytic, antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anticancer potential of Garcinia mangostana and α-mangostin mediated silver nanoparticles.

This study reports synthesis of Garcinia mangostana fruit pericarp (unwanted waste material) and α-mangostin mediated silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). These AgNPs were efficiently produced using 1:10 (extract and salt) ratio under stirring and heating, which was confirmed by surface plasmon resonance (SPR) band in UV-Visible spectroscopic analysis, and size of 73-91 nm determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The synthesized AgNPs were used for Hg(II) detection in tap water, where the limits of detection and quantification were 2.6 µM and 8.9 µM, respectively. Furthermore, the subject AgNPs showed promising catalytic activity in the reduction of dyes and food colours including Congo red (CR), methylene blue (MB), malachite green (MG), methyl orange (MO), para-nitrophenol (PNP), rhodamine B (RdB), zarda yellow (ZY), deep green (DG), and bright red (BR). The synthesized AgNPs were also evaluated for their antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anticancer properties, where α-mangostin and its nanoparticles (Mang-AgNPs) exhibited promising IC50 values of 14.1 and 13.5 µg/mL, respectively against DU-145 cell line validated by in silico molecular docking study. This study is the first report highlighting the application of AgNPs of G. mangostana fruit pericarp extracts, and α-mangostin in Hg(II) detection, dyes degradation, and anticancer potential against DU-145. Finding of this study suggested the suitability of AgNPs as promising solid biosensor in Hg(II) metal detection, dyes reduction, and target in anticancer drug development.

Pollen morphological assessment of specific selected species of district Sheikhupura, Punjab, Pakistan under LM and SEM.

Around 30 pollen samples, 16 families and 25 genera that were gathered, identified and preserved from 6 different localities of District Sheikhupura. Light and scanning electron microscopy was done for all collected flora. Out of the total samples, 43% specie was identified as herbs, 23% as shrubs, and 33% were identified as trees. The flora was both wild and cultivated. Wild plants were 33%, cultivated 40% and 26% of them were both wild and cultivated. Qualitative and Quantitative survey of pollens revealed polar shape of pollens were 37% spheroidal, 20% prolate spheroidal, 17% oblate spheroidal, remaining were rectangular and pecolpate. Sexine and nexine were available in 100% of samples. Thirty-three percentage of pollen grains were having spines on them. The presence of spines on pollen grains represents the evolutionary relationship amongst the plants. Current study was conducted to record and analyze palynomorphic diversity in district Sheikhupura, Punjab, Pakistan.

New species of Pseudosperma (Agaricales, Inocybaceae) from Pakistan revealed by morphology and multi-locus phylogenetic reconstruction.

During fungal surveys between 2012 and 2014 in pine-dominated forests of the western Himalayas in Pakistan, several collections of Pseudosperma (Agaricales, Inocybaceae) were made. These were documented, based on morphological and molecular data. During this work, three new species came to light, which are here formally described as Pseudosperma brunneoumbonatum, P. pinophilum and P. triacicularis. These species belong in the genus Pseudosperma fideMatheny et al. (2019) = Pseudosperma clade fideMatheny (2005) = Inocybe sect. Rimosae s.s. fideLarsson et al. (2009). Macro- and micro-morphological descriptions, illustrations and molecular phylogenetic reconstructions of the studied taxa are provided. The new species are differentiated from their close relatives by basidiospore size and colouration of basidiomata. Molecular phylogenetic relationships are inferred using ITS (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2), nrLSU and mtSSU sequence data. All three newly-described taxa likely share an ectomycorrhizal association with trees in the genus Pinus. In addition, five names are recombined in Inosperma, Mallocybe and Pseudosperma. These are Inosperma vinaceobrunneum, Mallocybe erratum, Pseudosperma alboflavellum, Pseudosperma friabile and Pseudosperma neglectum.

Characterization of natural gums via elemental and chemometric analyses, synthesis of silver nanoparticles, and biological and catalytic applications.

Gums; composed of polysaccharides, carbohydrates, proteins, and minerals, are high molecular weight hydrophilic compounds with several biological applications. This study describes the nutritional and toxic elements content, chemical composition, synthesis of silver nanoparticles (G-AgNPs), and pharmacological and catalytic properties of Prunus armeniaca (apricot), Prunus domestica (plums), Prunus persica (peaches), Acacia modesta (phulai), Acacia arabica (kikar), and Salmalia malabarica (silk cotton tree) gums. The elemental contents were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) and ICP-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). NMR spectroscopy was used for the identification of class of compounds in the mixture, their functional groups were determined through FTIR techniques, and plasmon resonance and size of G-AgNPs through UV-Vis spectroscopic technique and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). From the results, nutritional elements were present at appreciable concentrations, whereas toxic elements showed content below the maximum permissible ranges. Using the elemental data, linear discriminant and principal component analyses classified the gums to 99.9% variability index. Furthermore, G-AgNPs exhibited significant antioxidant, antibacterial, and redox catalytic potential. Hence, the subject G-AgNPs could have promising nutritional, therapeutic and environmental remediation applications.

Phylogenetic study documents different speciation mechanisms within the Russula globispora lineage in boreal and arctic environments of the Northern Hemisphere.

The Russula globispora lineage is a morphologically and phylogenetically well-defined group of ectomycorrhizal fungi occurring in various climatic areas. In this study we performed a multi-locus phylogenetic study based on collections from boreal, alpine and arctic habitats of Europe and Western North America, subalpine collections from the southeast Himalayas and collections from subtropical coniferous forests of Pakistan. European and North American collections are nearly identical and probably represent a single species named R. dryadicola distributed from the Alps to the Rocky Mountains. Collections from the southeast Himalayas belong to two distinct species: R. abbottabadensis sp. nov. from subtropical monodominant forests of Pinus roxburghii and R. tengii sp. nov. from subalpine mixed forests of Abies and Betula. The results suggest that speciation in this group is driven by a climate disjunction and adaptation rather than a host switch and geographical distance.