The atlas compiled by these editors is a commendable effort and welcome addition to the mycology textbook sector. Up until now, the publication of medical mycology textbooks has been sparse and those that have been published are either too detailed for a resident in training or practicing physician or do not provide sufficient photographs or illustrations of the main features of the mycotic organisms. As a lecturer in mycology for the dermatology residents at my local teaching hospital and program, there are 3 key objectives of my mycology lectures: (1) to provide some type of organizational approach to mycotic organisms, (2) to provide a concise clinical history, and (3) to provide as many photographs and illustrations of mycotic organisms as possible. This atlas provides an exemplary addition to my book collection on medical mycology textbooks and sources for illustrations of mycotic organisms. The electron photomicrographs, photoplates, and line drawings of

Atlas of Clinical Fungi

https://jcp.bmj.com/content/jclinpath/30/7/686.1.full.pdf

Fundamentals of Clinical Chemistry

The effects on the environment of pollution, particularly that caused by various industrial activities, have been responsible for the accelerated fluxes of organic and inorganic matter in the ecosphere. Xenobiotics such as phenol, phenolic compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and heavy metals, even at low concentrations, can be toxic to humans and other forms of life. Many of the remediation technologies currently being used for contaminated soil and water involve not only physical and chemical treatment, but also biological processes, where microbial activity is the responsible for pollutant removal and/or recovery. Fungi are present in aquatic sediments, terrestrial habitats and water surfaces and play a significant part in natural remediation of metal and aromatic compounds. Fungi also have advantages over bacteria since fungal hyphae can penetrate contaminated soil, reaching not only heavy metals but also xenobiotic compounds. Despite of the abundance of such fungi in wastes, penicillia in particular have received little attention in bioremediation and biodegradation studies. Additionally, several studies conducted with different strains of imperfecti fungi, Penicillium spp. have demonstrated their ability to degrade different xenobiotic compounds with low co-substrate requirements, and could be potentially interesting for the development of economically feasible processes for pollutant transformation.

https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/6/4/1393/pdf

Potential of Penicillium Species in the Bioremediation Field

In recent decades, xylanases have been used in many processing industries. This study describes the xylanase production by Penicillium glabrum using brewer's spent grain as substrate. Additionally, this is the first work that reports the purification and characterization of a xylanase using this agroindustrial waste. Optimal production was obtained when P. glabrum was grown in liquid medium in pH 5.5, at 25 °C, under stationary condition for six days. The xylanase from P. glabrum was purified to homogeneity by a rapid and inexpensive procedure, using ammonium sulfate fractionation and molecular exclusion chromatography. SDS-PAGE analysis revealed one band with estimated molecular mass of 18.36 kDa. The optimum activity was observed at 60 °C, in pH 3.0. The enzyme was very stable at 50 °C, and high pH stability was verified from pH 2.5 to 5.0. The ion Mn2+ and the reducing agents β-mercaptoethanol and DTT enhanced xylanase activity, while the ions Hg2+, Zn2+, and Cu2+ as well as the detergent SDS were strong inhibitors of the enzyme. The use of brewer's spent grain as substrate for xylanase production cannot only add value and decrease the amount of this waste but also reduce the xylanase production cost.

/pdf/production-purification-and-characterization-of-a-major-40n2epsuh7.pdf

Production, purification, and characterization of a major Penicillium glabrum xylanase using Brewer's spent grain as substrate.

One-factor-at-a-time (OFAT) optimization of xylanase production from Trichoderma viride-IR05 in solid-state fermentation

Xylanase production by Penicillium chrysogenum PCL501, newly isolated from wood-wastes, was
monitored at 24 h intervals for a period 168 h in media containing four different carbon sources (oatspelt
xylan, wheat bran, sawdust, and sugarcane pulp). The highest xylanase activity of 6.47 Units mL-1
was obtained at 96 h in media containing wheat bran whereas media containing sugarcane pulp gave a
peak value of 1.39 Units mL-1 at 144 h. Sawdust and xylan gave a peak xylanase activity of 1.35 and 0.79
Units mL-1 respectively at 120 h. Maximum protein released in xylan-containing media was 0.38 mg mL-1.
Higher protein yield was obtained in media containing the agro-wastes, with wheat bran giving the
highest value of 1.14 mg mL-1. The maximum specific xylanase activities were 2.59, 8.52, 16.06, and 9.36
Units mg Protein -1 for sawdust, sugarcane pulp, wheat bran and xylan respectively. Out of the three
agro-wastes used in this study, wheat bran holds the greatest promise for cost-effective production of
the xylanase enzyme. The carbon source is the highest inducer of the enzyme in the fungus.

/pdf/xylanase-production-by-penicillium-chrysogenum-pcl501-3c3udsd8jg.pdf

Xylanase production by Penicillium chrysogenum (PCL501) fermented on cellulosic wastes

-1 in 120 h of incubation. This is about 3.5 - 4.5 times the maximum weights of 0.51 and 0.40 mg mL -1 respectively obtained from the cultures containing cellulose and sawdust. The cultures containing crystalline cellulose and sawdust produced extracellular protein with cellulase (EC 3. 2. 1. 4) activity whereas glucose-containing cultures yielded very low protein and no significant cellulase activity. Maximum protein content of 0.02, 0.13 and 0.46 mg mL -1 respectively were obtained from the cultures containing glucose, cellulose and sawdust. Peak cellulase activity values of 100.0 and 92.2 Units L -1 respectively were obtained for the cultures containing cellulose and sawdust. There is a correlation between the protein released and cellulase activity of the culture filtrates. P. chrysogenum PCL501 produces extracellular proteins with significant cellulase activity in media containing cellulose and sawdust but not in glucose-containing medium. Sawdust is indicated as a good inducer of cellulase activity in the organism. The waste cellulosic material can be used as low-cost carbon source for commercial cellulase production.

/pdf/effect-of-carbon-sources-on-cellulase-ec-3-2-1-4-production-1n9lwr0crf.pdf

Effect of carbon sources on cellulase (EC 3. 2. 1. 4)production by Penicillium chrysogenum PCL501

Penicillin production by Penicillium chrysogenum (PCL501) fermented on glucose, lactose and four agro-wastes (cassava shavings, corncob, sawdust, and sugarcane pulp) was monitored with HPLC. The highest amount of penicillin was obtained with sugarcane pulp. Penicillin yield from a 7-day culture of the fungus was 8.65 ± 0.05, 7.68 ± 0.03, 6.85 ± 0.05, 5.54 ± 0.01, 5.32 ± 0.05 and 2.23 ± 0.02µg/ml respectively on sugarcane pulp, glucose, cassava shavings, corncob, lactose, and sawdust. Two mutant strains, UVP1 and UVP2, were obtained by exposing the wild strain (PCL501) to ultraviolet irradiation for 20 and 25 minutes respectively. The 7-day culture of UVP1 and UVP2 on sugarcane pulp yielded 14.83 ± 0.05 and 14.97 ± 0.05 µg/ml penicillin respectively. This represented over 70% increase in penicillin production over the parent strain. There is a good prospect of producing cheaper and effective penicillin using the mutant strains of P. chrysogenum and Author Information

/pdf/penicillin-production-by-penicillium-chrysogenum-pcl-501-1pz1qtwfi5.pdf

Penicillin Production by Penicillium Chrysogenum PCL 501:Effect of UV Induced Mutation

Penicillium chrysogenum PCL501 produced β-lactam antibiotics when fermented with different agro-wastes: cassava
shavings, corncob, sawdust and sugarcane pulp. In vitro antibacterial activity of the culture extracts was tested against four
clinical bacterial isolates, namely, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. All
the culture extracts and standard drug (commercial Benzyl Penicillin) inhibited the growth B. subtilis and E. coli; the potency
varied with carbon source. Antibacterial activity of extracts from cultures containing cassava shavings and sugarcane pulp
was comparable with that of the standard drug. The MIC against the susceptible organisms was 0.20mg/ml for the standard
drug and ranged from 0.40 to 1.50mg/ml for the culture extracts. Neither the culture extracts nor the standard drug
inhibited K. pneumoniae and P. aeruginosa; the bacterial strains produced β-lactamase enzymes. Cassava shavings and
sugarcane pulp are indicated as suitable cheap carbon sources for the production of antibiotics by Penicillium chrysogenum
PCL501.

Antibacterial Activity of Culture Extracts of Penicillium chrysogenum PCL501: Effects of Carbon Sources

There is renewed interest in the search for plants with anti-microbial activity leading to various plants being investigated for their potential efficacy. Ethanol leaf extract of Millettia aboensis and reference drug (commercial Geniclox 500) were tested in vitro against four clinical isolates, namely, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus for antibacterial activity. The ethanol leaf extract of M. aboensis inhibited the growth of K. pneumoniae, P. aeruginosa, and S. aureus but did not inhibit the growth of E. coli while the reference drug inhibited the growth of all the isolates. The Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) against susceptible organisms for the ethanol extracts was 12.5mg/ml for K. pneumoniae and P. aeruginosa and 50 mg/ml for S. aureus. The MIC of the reference antibiotics was 12.5 mg/ml for E. coli, P. aeruginosa and K. pneumoniae and a higher concentration of the reference antibiotics (200 mg/ml) was needed to inhibit S. aureus when compared to E. coli, K. pneumoniae and P. aeruginosa. The equivalent-point inhibitory kinetic (Ikeq) for both the reference drug and solvent extract of Millettia aboensis against P. aeruginosa and K. pneumoniae were 125 and 83.33 mg/ml respectively. There is need to harness the efficacious potentials of plants in view of isolating and identification of active principles present in plant extracts which could possibly be exploited for pharmaceutical use.

Blessing M. Onyegeme-Okerenta

Papers

Xylanase production by Penicillium chrysogenum (PCL501) fermented on cellulosic wastes

Effect of carbon sources on cellulase (EC 3. 2. 1. 4)production by Penicillium chrysogenum PCL501

Penicillin Production by Penicillium Chrysogenum PCL 501:Effect of UV Induced Mutation

Antibacterial Activity of Culture Extracts of Penicillium chrysogenum PCL501: Effects of Carbon Sources

Antimicrobial Properties of Ethanol Leaf Extract of Millettia aboensis on Some Selected Clinical Isolates