Project description:Plants coexist in close proximity with numerous microorganisms in their rhizosphere. With certain microorganisms, plants establish mutualistic relationships that can confer physiological benefits to the interacting organisms, including enhanced nutrient assimilation or increased stress tolerance. The root-colonizing endophytic fungi Penicillium chrysogenum, Penicillium minioluteum, and Serendipita indica have been reported to enhance the drought stress tolerance of plants. However, to date, the molecular mechanisms triggered by these fungi in plants remain unexplored. This study presents a comparative analysis of the effects on mock- and fungus-infected tomato plants (var. Moneymaker) under drought stress conditions (40% field capacity) and control conditions (100% field capacity). The findings provide evidence for the induction of common response modules by the fungi.
Project description:Cudrania tricuspidata extracts and 3 major compounds, including 4'-O-Methylalpinumisoflavone, Alpinumisoflavone and 6,8-diprenylgenistein
Project description:Chemical investigations of Penicillium sp. CMB-STF067 is based on both the antibacterial property of its extract and the Global Natural Product Social (GNPS) molecular networking analysis of 176 soil-associated fungi, guided the isolation of 4-new xanthoquinodins, jugiones A-D.
Project description:Fungi are ubiquitous and are often confronted with the need to secure utilisable carbon from their external growth milieu through the use of extracellular proteins to scavenge for carbon from a vast array of complex polymeric carbon sources. This attribute is conserved across evolution in fungi. To understand how filamentous fungi extracellular proteins are modulated in response to the presence polymeric carbons in the environment, we have typed the array of the main extracellular proteins involved and their dynamics using a known hypercellulolytic fungus – Penicillium funiculosum (NCIM 1228), through multiplexed quantitative proteomics
Project description:The black soldier fly, Hermetia illucens, is a promising source for sustainable production of proteins, lipids and bioactive substances. Feeding on a variety of decomposing organic substrates which are typically inhabited by a range of different microorganisms like bacteria and fungi, H. illucens larvae is expected to be able to strongly produce antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) and other substances possessing antibiotic activity. It has been shown that H. illucens larvae extract exhibits antimicrobial activity against some microorganisms, such as Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, and antimicrobial effect on bacterial biofilm. Numbers of AMPs produced by H. illucens larvae have also been identified so far. Moreover, H. illucens larvae extract was recently observed with significant induction of cell envelop stress response (CESR) in B. subtilis, indicative of potential production of antimicrobial compounds. B. subtilis as a well-established Gram‑positive model strain is widely used in scientific research and an arguably robust platform to investigate antimicrobial compounds at the respect of, such as the mode of reaction of and the stress response elicited by corresponding compounds. In this study, we aimed to characterize the stress responses in B. subtilis induced by H. illucens larvae extract by employing transcriptomic study via RNA sequencing technique. With transcriptional profiling, we are expecting to be able to give some hints of potential antimicrobial compounds produced by H. illucens larvae by referring to the transcriptomic researches on well-studied antimicrobial substances.
Project description:Chronic Inflammation has a key role in the development of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Previously, we demonstrated that OBE100, a natural extract from the leaves of Eucalyptus tereticornis, has anti-inflammatory properties. Three pentacyclic triterpenoids, ursolic acid, oleanolic acid, and ursolic acid lactone are the major compounds present in OBE100. These molecules have shown multiple biological activities. In this study we analyzed how the compounds of OBE100 modify adipocyte gene expression using RNA sequencing. Triterpenoids regulate the inflammatory program in differentiated adipocytes, inhibiting the expression of many cytokines, chemokines, and inflammatory mediators. However, the OBE100 extract has a more powerful immunomodulatory effect than the triterpene mixture increasing the number of genes regulated, both in mouse and human models. Our study shows that OBE100 is a promising extract for the treatment of diabetes that can break the link between inflammation and insulin resistance.