Yutaka Kitamoto

Bio: Yutaka Kitamoto is an academic researcher from Tottori University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Gene & Carnitine dehydrogenase. The author has an hindex of 18, co-authored 59 publications receiving 886 citations.

A new method for the preservation of fungus stock cultures

Abstract: Recovery of 66 fungus stock cultures including Oomycota, Zygomycota, Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, and mitosporic mycetes were examined after cryopreservation. Almost all the stock cultures remained viable when the mycelia that had grown over the sawdust medium contain- ing 10% glycerol as the cryoprotectant (65% moisture con- tent, W/W) were frozen rapidly at 85°C and then allow to thaw naturally at room temperature. Test stock cultures were preserved for more than 10 years by this preservation method without any programmed precooling and rapid thawing for their cryopreservation. Most of the test fungi could survive for 5 years in medium containing 10% glyc- erol even after alternate freezing and thawing at intervals of 6 months. When a strain of Flammulina velutipes was tested for mycelial growth rate and productivity of fruit-bodies after cryopreservation for 3 years, the fungus reproduced with its initial capability. These results demonstrate that the sawdust-freezing method using a cryoprotectant is expected to be a reliable and easy preservation method for fungus stock cultures.

The biological species of oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus spp.) from Asia based on mating compatibility tests

Abstract: Mating compatibility of 25 Pleurotus species collected mainly from Asia was tested by either the Mon–Mon mating or the Di–Mon mating tests. The results showed 5 intersterility groups (P. ostreatus, P. pulmonarius, P. cornucopiae, P. cystidiosus, and P. salmoneostramineus complexes) and 7 independent interincompatible species (P. calyptratus, P. corticatus, P. dryinus, P. eryngii, P. nebrodensis, P. smithii, and P. ulmarius). The P. ostreatus complex includes P. ostreatus, P. ostreatus var. columbinus, P. djamor, and P. flabellatus. The P. pulmonarius complex has 7 taxa: P. pulmonarius, P. eugrammus, P. eugrammus var. brevisporus, P. sajor-caju, P. sapidus, P. sp. florida, and P. opuntiae. The P. cornucopiae complex includes its variant P. cornucopiae var. citrinopileatus. The P. cystidiosus complex includes P. abalonus. The P. salmoneostramineus complex includes 3 pink-colored mushrooms: P. salmoneostramineus, P. ostreatoroseus, and P. rhodophyllus. According to mating compatibility tests, 12 biological species were identified from among 25 Pleurotus species.

α-Glucose-1-phosphate formation by a novel trehalose phosphorylase from Flammulina velutipes

Abstract: A novel type of trehalose phosphorylase was found in a basidiomycete. Flammulina velutipes. The enzyme catalyzes both the reversible phosphorolysis of trehalose to form α-glucose 1-phosphate and glucose and also the synthesis of trehalose. Comparison of the specific activity of trehalose phosphorylase with that of trehalase suggested that the function of the former enzyme was more important in the fruit-bodies of this fungus.

Identification and linkage mapping of the genes for the putative homeodomain protein (hox1) and the putative pheromone receptor protein homologue (rcb1) in a bipolar basidiomycete, Pholiota nameko.

Abstract: In the current studies, we sequenced and characterized the gene for the homeodomain protein (hox1) in a bipolar mushroom, Pholiota nameko, which is a putative homologue of A mating type genes in the tetrapolar basidiomycete, Coprinopsis cinerea. We also sequenced and characterized the gene for the pheromone receptor (rcb1) in P. nameko, which is a putative homologue of the B mating type genes in C. cinerea. Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and linkage analyses indicated that the both genes are present as a single locus on the different chromosome. Moreover, in P. nameko, the hox1 gene was mapped to the A mating type locus in linkage group I. However, rcb1 was not linked to the A mating type locus and was mapped to the other linkage group. These results strongly suggest that hox1 regulates with incompatibility in the bipolar mushroom, and that rcb1 may not affect the mating function in P. nameko. This is the first report regarding the structure of the mating type genes in bipolar mushrooms.

The paleozoic origin of enzymatic lignin decomposition reconstructed from 31 fungal genomes

Abstract: Wood is a major pool of organic carbon that is highly resistant to decay, owing largely to the presence of lignin. The only organisms capable of substantial lignin decay are white rot fungi in the Agaricomycetes, which also contains non-lignin-degrading brown rot and ectomycorrhizal species. Comparative analyses of 31 fungal genomes (12 generated for this study) suggest that lignin-degrading peroxidases expanded in the lineage leading to the ancestor of the Agaricomycetes, which is reconstructed as a white rot species, and then contracted in parallel lineages leading to brown rot and mycorrhizal species. Molecular clock analyses suggest that the origin of lignin degradation might have coincided with the sharp decrease in the rate of organic carbon burial around the end of the Carboniferous period.

Degradation of cellulose by basidiomycetous fungi.

Abstract: Cellulose is the main polymeric component of the plant cell wall, the most abundant polysaccharide on Earth, and an important renewable resource. Basidiomycetous fungi belong to its most potent degraders because many species grow on dead wood or litter, in environment rich in cellulose. Fungal cellulolytic systems differ from the complex cellulolytic systems of bacteria. For the degradation of cellulose, basidiomycetes utilize a set of hydrolytic enzymes typically composed of endoglucanase, cellobiohydrolase and β-glucosidase. In some species, the absence of cellobiohydrolase is substituted by the production of processive endoglucanases combining the properties of both of these enzymes. In addition, systems producing hydroxyl radicals based on cellobiose dehydrogenase, quinone redox cycling or glycopeptide-based Fenton reaction are involved in the degradation of several plant cell wall components, including cellulose. The complete cellulolytic complex used by a single fungal species is typically composed of more than one of the above mechanisms that contribute to the utilization of cellulose as a source of carbon or energy or degrade it to ensure fast substrate colonization. The efficiency and regulation of cellulose degradation differs among wood-rotting, litter-decomposing, mycorrhizal or plant pathogenic fungi and yeasts due to the different roles of cellulose degradation in the physiology and ecology of the individual groups.

Carnitine metabolism and its regulation in microorganisms and mammals

Abstract: ▪ Abstract In procaryotes, l-carnitine may be used as both a carbon and nitrogen source for aerobic growth, or the carbon chain may be used selectively following cleavage of trimethylamine. Under anaerobic conditions and in the absence of preferred substrates, some bacteria use carnitine, via crotonobetaine, as an electron acceptor. Formation of trimethylamine and γ-butyrobetaine (from reduction of crotonobetaine) from l-carnitine by enteric bacteria has been demonstrated in rats and humans. Carnitine is not degraded by enzymes of eukaryotic origin. In higher organisms, carnitine has specific functions in intermediary metabolism. Concentrations of carnitine and its esters in cells of eukaryotes are rigorously maintained to provide optimal function. Carnitine homeostasis in mammals is preserved by a modest rate of endogenous synthesis, absorption from dietary sources, efficient reabsorption, and mechanisms present in most tissues that establish and maintain substantial concentration gradients between intra...

Review of fungal chitinases.

Abstract: Chitin is the second most abundant organic and renewable source in nature, after cellulose. Chitinases are chitin-degrading enzymes. Chitinases have important biophysiological functions and immense potential applications. In recent years, researches on fungal chitinases have made fast progress, especially in molecular levels. Therefore, the present review will focus on recent advances of fungal chitinases, containing their nomenclature and assays, purification and characterization, molecular cloning and expression, family and structure, regulation, and function and application.