The direct synthetic organic use of electricity is currently experiencing a renaissance. More synthetically oriented laboratories working in this area are exploiting both novel and more traditional concepts, paving the way to broader applications of this niche technology. As only electrons serve as reagents, the generation of reagent waste is efficiently avoided. Moreover, stoichiometric reagents can be regenerated and allow a transformation to be conducted in an electrocatalytic fashion. However, the application of electroorganic transformations is more than minimizing the waste footprint, it rather gives rise to inherently safe processes, reduces the number of steps of many syntheses, allows for milder reaction conditions, provides alternative means to access desired structural entities, and creates intellectual property (IP) space. When the electricity originates from renewable resources, this surplus might be directly employed as a terminal oxidizing or reducing agent, providing an ultra-sustainable and therefore highly attractive technique. This Review surveys recent developments in electrochemical synthesis that will influence the future of this area.

Electrifying Organic Synthesis

http://repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt/bitstream/1822/7896/1/Paterson_Cordyceps%5b1%5d.pdf

Cordyceps – A traditional Chinese medicine and another fungal therapeutic biofactory?

Synthetic Applications of Anodic Electrochemistry

Advances in our understanding of the decomposition processes in forest ecosystems over the past three decades have demonstrated the importance of lignin as a regulating factor in the decomposition of leaf litter. Consequently, increasingly more attention is being focused on the ecology of fungi associated with lignin decomposition. The aim of this review is to provide a critical summary of the ecology of ligninolytic fungi inhabiting leaf litter and forest floor materials. The review focuses on the following aspects of ligninolytic fungi: the taxonomic and functional diversity of ligninolytic fungi, the outcomes of interactions between ligninolytic fungi and other organisms, the activity and abundance of ligninolytic fungi measured by the production of bleached leaves and humus, the activity of ligninolytic enzymes in soil environments, the substratum and seral succession, spatial and temporal patterns in both mycelial abundance and species distribution, and the effect of environmental factors such as nitrogen deposition and global environmental changes on ligninolytic fungi. This review integrates the ecology, diversity, and activity of ligninolytic fungi into the context of an ecosystem in order to provide an understanding of the roles of ligninolytic fungi in decomposition processes.

Ecology of ligninolytic fungi associated with leaf litter decomposition

Since its initial discovery in Allentown, PA, USA, the brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB), Halyomorpha halys (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) has now officially has been detected in 38 states and the District of Columbia in the USA. Isolated populations also exist in Switzerland and Canada. This Asian species quickly became a major nuisance pest in the mid-Atlantic USA region due to its overwintering behavior of entering structures. BMSB has an extremely wide host range in both its native home and invaded countries where it feeds on numerous tree fruits, vegetables, field crops, ornamental plants, and native vegetation. In 2010, populations exploded causing severe crop losses to apples, peaches, sweet corn, peppers, tomatoes and row crops such as field corn and soybeans in several midAtlantic states. Damaging populations were detected in vineyards, small fruit and ornamentals. Researchers are collaborating to develop management solutions that will complement current integrated pest management programs. This article summarizes the current pest status and strategies being developed to manage BMSB in the USA.

/pdf/pest-status-of-the-brown-marmorated-stink-bug-halyomorpha-149hsj14aq.pdf

PEST STATUS OF THE BROWN MARMORATED STINK BUG, HALyOMORPHA HALyS IN THE USA

Lignin-degrading ability of litter-decomposing basidiomycetes from Picea forests of Hokkaido

Stereoselective synthesis of 4- or 5-substituted 2-benzyl- and 2-benzoylpyrrolidines by means of anodic oxidation of δ-alkenylamines

We investigated the association between ectomycorrhizal (ECM) and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and pioneer woody plant species in areas devastated by the eruption of Mt. Usu, Japan, in 2000. We observed eight woody plant species at the research site, most of which were associated with ECM and/or AM fungi. In particular, dominant woody plant species Populus
maximowiczii, Salix
hultenii var. angustifolia and Salix
sachalinensis were consistently associated with ECM fungi and erratically associated with AM fungi. We found one to six morphotypes in the roots of each ECM host and, on average, two in the roots of each seedling, indicating low ECM fungal diversity. ECM colonization ranged from 17 to 42% of root tips. Using morphotyping and molecular analyses, 15 ECM fungi were identified. ECM fungi differed greatly between hosts. However, Laccaria amethystea, Hebeloma
mesophaeum, Thelephora
terrestris and other Thelephoraceae had high relative colonization, constituting the majority of the ECM colonization in the roots of each plant species. These ECM fungi may be important for the establishment of pioneer woody plant species and further revegetation at Mt. Usu volcano.

/pdf/mycorrhizal-associations-in-woody-plant-species-at-the-mt-5ebs33bsdc.pdf

Toshizumi Miyamoto

Papers

Lignin-degrading ability of litter-decomposing basidiomycetes from Picea forests of Hokkaido

Stereoselective synthesis of 4- or 5-substituted 2-benzyl- and 2-benzoylpyrrolidines by means of anodic oxidation of δ-alkenylamines

Mycorrhizal associations in woody plant species at the Mt. Usu volcano, Japan.

New total synthesis of (+)-N-methylanisomycin by anodic cyclization of δ-alkenylamine

Oribatid mite community structure and tree species diversity: A link?