Diagnóstico de 2 casos de mucormicosis rino-facio-cerebral en pacientes diabeticos / Diagnosis two cases de rhino-facio-cerebral mucomycosis in diabetic patients

Se presentan dos casos de mucormicosis rino-facio-cerebral de evolución lenta, en pacientes diabéticos. El diagnóstico se realizó por el hallazgo del hongo en el exámen histopatológico y exámenes microcópicos de los materiales drenados de los senos maxilares, que mostraron hifas no septadas y abundantes. En ninguno de los casos se pudo recuperar el agente etiológico por cultivo, debido a la labilidad de los mucorales y por la presencia de un material necrótico de fácil contaminación microbiana

Diagnóstico de 2 casos de mucormicosis rino-facio-cerebral en pacientes diabeticos / Diagnosis two cases de rhino-facio-cerebral mucomycosis in diabetic patients

Se presentan dos casos de mucormicosis rino-facio-cerebral de evolución lenta, en pacientes diabéticos. El diagnóstico se realizó por el hallazgo del hongo en el exámen histopatológico y exámenes microcópicos de los materiales drenados de los senos maxilares, que mostraron hifas no septadas y abundantes. En ninguno de los casos se pudo recuperar el agente etiológico por cultivo, debido a la labilidad de los mucorales y por la presencia de un material necrótico de fácil contaminación microbiana

Direct analysis of microbial extracts containing metabolites of ethylenediamine-type antihistamines via high-performance liquid chromatography-thermospray mass spectrometry.

The utility of high-performance liquid chromatography-thermospray mass spectrometry (HPLC-TSMS) for the characterization of the ethylenediamine-type antihistamines, pyrilamine, methapyrilene, tripelennamine, and thenyldiamine, and their methylene chloride-extractable microbial metabolites from a biological matrix is demonstrated. Typically, the [M + H]+ ion was detected as the base peak in the TS mass spectra of these compounds. The ethylenediamine-type antihistamine metabolites were detected in an extract of a fungal culture grown in the presence of 5 mg of the antihistamine. A detection limit of 200 ng was observed for the HPLC-TSMS analysis of pyrilamine.

Identification of Mortierella wolfii, a causative agent of mycotic abortion in cattle.

Of several media tested for their ability to induce asexual reproduction in confirmed or suspected isolates of Mortierella wolfii obtained from cattle in various geographical locations, only silage extract agar worked consistently and rapidly. Its use should provide a simple reliable culturing procedure to assist with identification of clinical isolates of this fungus. Temperature growth response curves and electrophoretic patterns of soluble protein extracts of these isolates with characteristic morphological features of M. wolfii indicate substantial variation amongst them.

Lipid composition of thermophilic moulds Acremonium alabamensis and Thermomucor indicae-seudaticae.

The total lipid content of Acremonium alabamensis and Thermomucor indicae-seudaticae ranged 2.6-7.3 and 8.5-13.0% of dry mycelium, respectively during development. Neutral lipid fraction increased during growth while polar and phospholipids declined. Both moulds contained palmitic, oleic, linoleic and palmitoleic acids as major fatty acid components in lipids. Degree of unsaturation of lipids of A. alabamensis was greater than that of T. indicae-seudaticae. Neutral lipids were more unsaturated than the polar lipids. The ratio of unsaturation index of polar lipids to neutral lipids was either one or less than one. The principal phospholipids of these moulds were phosphatidyl choline, phosphatidyl ethanolamine and phosphatidic acid. However, phosphatidic acid was not found in very high amounts as observed in Humicola grisea var. thermoidea.

[Effect of the exogenous lipids of complex media on the fatty acid composition of mycelial microorganisms]. / Vliianie ékzogennykh lipidov kompleksnykh sred na sostav zhirnykh kislot u mitselial' nykh mikroorganizmov.

The effect of exogenous lipid sources on the composition of fatty acids was studied in actinomycetes of the Streptomyces genus and in fungi belonging to the genera Blakeslea, Cunninghamella and Penicillium. The following sources of exogenous lipids were used: soybean and maize flour, sunflower by-products, chicken droppings, maize extract, yeast extract, peptone, sperm whale fat, sunflower and palm oil. The composition of fatty acids in total extracted lipids of the studied mycelial microorganisms was shown to reflect two processes: lipid synthesis de novo and assimilation of exogenous fatty acids. This fact ought to be taken into account both in the chemotaxonomic interpretation of fatty acid composition and in practical recommendations for the utilization of microbial lipids. It is of particular interest to study the physiological role of exogenous lipid metabolism in the cells of microorganisms.

[Kinetics of the growth of colonies of Mucor plumbeus and Mortierella ramanniana fungi on agarized media with glucose]. / Kinetika rosta kolonii gribov Mucor plumbeus i Mortierella ramanniana na agarizovannykh sredakh s gliukozoi.

The growth kinetics of Mucor plumbeus and Mortierella ramanniana colonies was studied during cultivation of these two soil fungi on solid media with glucose as a limiting substrate. Within the whole studied range of glucose concentrations (s), the radial growth rate of colonies (Kr) can be satisfactorily described with the following equation that takes substrate inhibition into consideration: (Formula: see text) The values of kinetic parameters for M. plumbeus and Mort. ramanniana, respectively, are: the maximal radial growth rate Kr(max), 0.434 and 0.075 mm/hr; the saturation constant Ks, 6.5 and 5.6 mg/l; the substrate inhibition constant, Ks(i), 3315 and 98.6 mg/l. The mechanism of substrate inhibition is manifested in a decrease in the width (volume) of the peripheral zone of the colonial growth at high substrate concentrations, and is not related to a decrease in the specific growth rate of the fungi. Regardless of the drastic differences in the Kr of the two cultures, their specific growth rates are similar and depend on the substrate concentration according to in the same pattern.

[Age and changes in the cell wall of Cunninghamella japonica]. / Vozrastnye izmeneniia v sostave kletochnoi stenki u Cunninghamella japonica.

Changes in the composition of cell walls were studied in hyphae of Cunninghamella japonica in the course of aging. The content of neutral sugars, uronic acids and lipids remained virtually the same while the content of protein, aminosugars and chitin changed in the course of the cultural growth. The presence of chitosan in the cell wall of Cun. japonica is discussed.

[Fatty acid composition of certain species of fungi of the family Choanephoraceae]. / O zhirnokislotnom sostave fosfolipidov nekotorykh vidov gribov semeistva Choanephoraceae.

Saturated and unsaturated fatty acids with an unbranched chain and an even number of carbon atoms from C12 to C24 were found in phospholipids of the fungi Cunninghamella elegans, Cun. homothallica and Blakeslea trispora. Palmitic, oleic and linoleic acids constituted a considerable part in the fraction of fatty acids. Oleic acid (47 mole %) predominated in Cun. elegans and Cun. homothallica whereas linoleic acid (62 mole %) prevailed in Bl. trispora.

Effect of variou cultural conditions on the fatty acid and lipid composition of Choanephora cucurbitarum.

The fatty acid composition of the total and polar lipid fractions of Choanephora cucurbitarum grown under different cultural conditions were analyzed by thin-layer and gas-liquid chromatography. It was observed that temperature, age, pH, and light influenced the degree of unsaturation, this being due mainly to changes in the gamma-linolenic acid concentration. The conditions used in this study did not alter the qualitative profile of fatty acids normally present in the organism. Neither did these conditions stimulate the production of further long-chain fatty acids (C20-C26) beyond gamma-linolenic acid (C18:3) as reported earlier using growth media containing glutamic acid. The fatty acid pattern of lipid fractions though the same qualitatively, differed quantitatively. The polar lipid fractions, phosphatidyl choline, phosphatidyl ethanolamine, and diphosphatidyl glycerol showed an appreciable variation in gamma-linolenic acid content under different cultural conditions. The degree of unsaturation of the various lipid fractions decreased with increases in temperature, light intensity, and pH, but within each treatment the same pattern of decreasing degree of unsaturation with increasing age was observed. The significance of these observations is discussed.

Effect of glutamic acid on the fatty acid and lipid composition of Choanephora cucurbitarum.

The fatty acid composition of the total, neutral, sterol, free fatty acid, and polar-lipid fractions in the mycelium of Choanephora curcurbitarum was determined. The major fatty acids in all lipid fractions were palmitic, oleic, linoleic, and gamma-linolenic acid. Different lipid fractions did not show any particular preference for any individual fatty acid; however, the degree of unsaturation was different in different lipid fractions. Free fatty acid and polar lipid fractions contained a higher proportion of gamma-linolenic acid than did triglyceride and sterol fractions. Addition of glutamic acid to the malt-yeast extract and medium resulted in the biosynthesis of a number of long-chain fatty acids beyond the gamma-linolenic acid. These fatty acids, e.g., C22:1, C24:0, and C26:0, were never observed to be present in the fungus when grown on a malt-yeast extract medium without glutamic acid. Furthermore, thin-layer chromatographic analysis showed a larger and denser spot of diphosphatidyl glycerol from the mycelium grown on glutamic acid medium than from the control mycelium. The possible significance of this finding is discussed.

[Makeup of free intracellular amino acids in Cunninghamella elegans growing on media with hydrocarbons]. / Sostav svobodnykh vmutrikletochnykh aminokislot u Cunninghamella elegans pri razvitii ee na sredakh s uglevodorodami

The rate of growth of Cunninghamella elegans (--) 1204 is higher on a mineral medium with glucose (6.56 g/litre) than on a mineral medium containing undecane, tridecane, and pentadecane (0.72--0.87 g/litre); all glutamic acid is consumed only from the medium with glucose. The cells contain 15--16 free amino acids and 1--2 amides, glutamic and aspartic acids and alanine prevailing. The culture grown on the medium with glucose contains asparagine, and the cells cultivated on the medium with alkanes contain histidine. Non-proteinogenous aminobutyric acids were found in the pool of the cells grown on all tested media with an exception of the medium containing undecane.

[Lipid composition of Cunninghamella elegans cultivated on n-alkanes]. / Izuchenie sostava lipidov Cunninghamella elgans, vyrashchennoi na n-alkanov

The ability to oxidize n-alkanes was studied with various species of fungi belonging to the Cunninghamella genus. These fungi are able to assimilate hydrocarbons and to accumulate up to 1.5 g/litre of biomass. The most active strain was Cunninghamella elegans (-) 1204. The amount of lipids formed, and their composition, depended on the length of the carbon chain of oxidized alkane. The content of fat in the cells increased with the length of the hydrocarbon chain. The following lipid fractions have been detected: phospholipids, monoglycerides, diglycerides, triglycerides, sterols, free fatty acids, sterol esters, and hydrocarbons. The qualitative composition of the fractions depended, to a considerable extent, on the n-alkane utilized. Investigation of the fatty-acid composition of intracellular lipids has shown that fatty acids with an even number of carbon atoms are formed from hydrocarbons with an even number of these atoms, while fatty acids both with an even and odd number of carbon atoms are synthesized from hydrocarbons with an odd number of these atoms. The relative content of the acids with the same number of carbon atoms as that of the alkane being utilized increased with the length of the carbon chain.

Characterization of the genome of Phycomyces blakesleeanus.

DNA of Phycomyces blakesleeanus was extracted from whole mycelia and from nuclear and mitochondrial organelle fractions obtained from sporangiophores. DNA from all three sources exhibits one symmetrical band at p equals 1.688 g/ml in CsCl buoyant density gradients. Reassociation data are consistent with kinetic division of the DNA into three components: very rapidly renaturing (fraction I), rapidly reassociating (fraction II) and slowly reassociating (fraction III) base sequences. These components comprise approximately 10%, 20% and 64% of total cell DNA. Kinetic fractions were prepared from total cell DNA and reassociated separately. The corrected rate constant is 11.3 M-1-S-1 for the rapidly reassociating component and 0.055 M-1-S-1 for the slowly reassociating component. Based on these data and the data from unfractionated total cell DNA, the genome size of Phycomyces is approximately 1.9-10-10 daltons, 6.7 times that of Escherichia coli.