Fungi Commons^™

Reducing Food Scarcity: The Benefits Of Urban Farming, S.A. Claudell, Emilio Mejia

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Urban farming can enhance the lives of communities and help reduce food scarcity. This paper presents a conceptual prototype of an efficient urban farming community that can be scaled for a single apartment building or an entire community across all global geoeconomics regions, including densely populated cities and rural, developing towns and communities. When deployed in coordination with smart crop choices, local farm support, and efficient transportation then the result isn’t just sustainability, but also increasing fresh produce accessibility, optimizing nutritional value, eliminating the use of ‘forever chemicals’, reducing transportation costs, and fostering global environmental benefits.

Imagine Doris, who is …

The Last Of Us In Therapy: How Mind-Controlling Fungi And Gut Bacteria Affect Your Mental Health, Anastasia Lyon

Journal of Pharmacology & Nutritional Sciences

The "psilocybiome" represents the mutually beneficial relationship between ourselves, our bacteria, and psychedelic drugs. This short review briefly discusses the benefits and limitations surrounding the potential for psychedelic therapy to synergize with gut bacteria to help regulate and maintain proper balance in the immune system, diet, and stress levels. Psychedelic therapy is a novel treatment strategy that has the potential to improve patient mental health, and, by identifying the types of gut bacteria present in patients, it can aid in personalizing medicine by determining how well their "psilocybiome" may respond.

Microbiological Study In A Gneissic Cave From Sri Lanka, With Special Focus On Potential Antimicrobial Activities, Ethige Isuru P. Silva, Pathmakumara Jayasingha, Saman Senanayake, Anura Dandeniya, Dona Helani Munasinghe

International Journal of Speleology

The emergence of antibiotic resistance is a global health crisis, thus the search for novel antimicrobial compounds has become a continuous necessity. Underexplored and extreme environments, such as cave ecosystems, have been identified as a promising potential source for the discovery of novel microorganisms with novel antimicrobial compounds (AMC). This study presents the first cave microbiological investigation in Sri Lanka, with a special preference for bioprospecting of novel AMC. The cave sediment characterization demonstrated the presence of close to strong acidic conditions (pH 3.1 – 3.3) and thus indicates the possibility of isolating acidophilic microorganisms. Eight cave wall/ceiling fungal strains …

Freshwater Fungal Infections, Dennis J. Baumgardner

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Fungal infections as a result of freshwater exposure or trauma are fortunately rare. Etiologic agents are varied, but commonly include filamentous fungi and Candida. This narrative review describes various sources of potential freshwater fungal exposure and the diseases that may result, including fungal keratitis, acute otitis externa and tinea pedis, as well as rare deep soft tissue or bone infections and pulmonary or central nervous system infections following traumatic freshwater exposure during natural disasters or near-drowning episodes. Fungal etiology should be suspected in appropriate scenarios when bacterial cultures or molecular tests are normal or when the infection worsens or …

Blastomyces: Why Be Dimorphic?, Dennis J. Baumgardner

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

In introducing the infectious disease focus for this edition of the Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews, the author describes the unsolved mysteries surrounding the dimorphic fungus Blastomyces and the related pathogenesis of pulmonary blastomycosis.

Sampling Local Fungal Diversity In An Undergraduate Laboratory Using Dna Barcoding, A. H. Harrington, A. F. Bigott, B. W. Anderson, M. J. Boone, S. M. Brick, J. F. Delsol, R. A. Hotchkiss, R. A. Huddleston, E. H. Kasper, J. J. Mcgrady, M. L. Mckinnie, M. V. Ottenlips, N. E. Skinner, K. C. Spatz, A. J. Steinberg, F. Van Den Broek, C. N. Wilson, A. M. Wofford, A. M. Willyard

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Traditional methods for fungal species identification require diagnostic morphological characters and are often limited by the availability of fresh fruiting bodies and local identification resources. DNA barcoding offers an additional method of species identification and is rapidly developing as a critical tool in fungal taxonomy. As an exercise in an undergraduate biology course, we identified 9 specimens collected from the Hendrix College campus in Conway, Arkansas, USA to the genus or species level using morphology. We report that DNA barcoding targeting the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region supported several of our taxonomic determinations and we were able to contribute 5 …

Characterization Of A PorosTm-Fumonisin B1 Affinity Column For Isolating Ceramide Synthase From Rat Liver, S. Jernigan, W. B. Melchior Jr., G. R. Jenkins, K. L. Rowland, D. W. Roberts, P. C. Howard, H. Tolleson

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Fumonisin B1 is a mycotoxin produced by fungi of the genus Fusarium, common pathogens of corn and other grain plants. Toxic effects associated with fumonisin B1 include equine leukoencephalomacia, porcine pulmonary edema, rat renal carcinoma, and murine hepatocellular carcinoma. Increased risk for esophageal cancer in humans has been epidemiologically associated with consumption of corn contaminated with Fusarium, suggesting that fumonisin B1 may be involved. The biological effects of fumonisin B1 exposure result primarily from disruption of de novo sphingolipid biosynthesis via inhibition of ceramide synthase. Exposure of animals or cultured cells to fumonisin B1 results in the characteristic accumulation of …

Role Of Endophytes In Tall Fescue, E. L. Piper, C. P. West

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) is the most commonly grown cool season grass used for pastures in Arkansas. Most tall fescue contains a fungal endophyte (Acremonium coenophialum Morgan-Jones & Gams), which causes fescue toxicosis in livestock and costs cattle producers millions of dollars annually in lost production. Endophyte presence is known to reduce wild mammal populations in areas where tall fescue is prevalent. The endophyte spends its entire life cycle within the plant and is transmitted through the seed. The association is mutualistic with the plant providing nutrients for the endophyte and the endophyte conferring drought, insect, and nematode resistance …

Evaluation Of Aposphaeria Amaranthi As A Bioherbicide For Pigweed (Amaranthus Spp.), A. S. Mintz, G. J. Weidmann

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Studies were conducted to determine the potential of the fungus, Aposphaeria amaranth!, as a bioherbicide for pigweeds (Amaranthus spp.). Experiments to establish the environmental parameters necessary for control of tumble pigweed (A. albus) demonstrated that an 8-hr dew period was sufficient for control of seedlings with four to six leaves, and that temperatures ranging from 20 to 28 C were conducive for disease development. Conidial concentrations as lowas 1x 10s conidia per ml also were sufficient for plant mortality. Host range tests demonstrated pathogenicity of A. amaranthi to several other species of Amaranthus, including biotypes resistant to triazine herbicides. Disease …

Biological Control Of Doublegee, Dane Panetta

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Doublegee (Emex australis) is one of the worst agricultural weeds in Western Australia. To date, however, biological control of this weed has proved elusive. Multiple releases of two weevils which attack doublegee have not led to insect establishment. For one of these species, further research has shown that doublegee control would probably not be achieved in the wheatbelt even if insect establishment were enhanced by growing its host during the summer months. A joint Western Australian Department of Agriculture/ CSIRO project is investigating the virulence and host specificity of an undescribed South African species o/Phomopsis fungus. Should this pathogen prove …

Development Of Pleurotus Ulmarius Fr. Grown In Pure Culture, Delbert Swartz, J. D. Collar

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Further Studies On An Antibiotic Substance Produced By Rhizopus Nigricans Ehrenberg, Kenneth D. Mace, Delbert Swartz

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

List Of The Smut Fungi Of Arkansas, George E. Templeton

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Antibiotic Substance Produced By Rhizopus Nigricans Ehrenberg, Billy Joe Williams

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.