Latest Ascomycota Stories

Scientists have sequenced the genome of the fungus Pneumocystis jirovecii, an advancement that could help identify new targets for drugs to treat and prevent Pneumocystis pneumonia, a common and often deadly infection in immunocompromised patients. The study will be published on December 26, 2012 in mBio®, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology. The organism cannot yet be isolated and grown for study in the laboratory, so details about Pneumocystis pneumonia,...

A fungal species native to Iran which attacks grasses is the result of natural hybridisation that occurred just a few hundred years ago Zymoseptoria tritici is often a headache for European farmers. This ascomycete originating from the Middle East attacks the leaves of wheat plants triggering "speckled leaf blotch", which can cut crop yields by up to 50 percent. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology in Marburg and Aarhus University in Denmark have now taken...

A little-known toxin called Blastomyces dermatididis is a silent -- possibly deadly -- fungal organism that lurks where your dog plays. New York, NY (PRWEB) April 15, 2012 A little-known toxin called Blastomyces dermatididis is a silent -- possibly deadly -- fungal organism that hides in places that pet owners often take their dogs to play. One German Shepherd, Audrey, and her family discovered this the hard way, after Audrey inhaled it during a vacation in Northern Wisconsin. She is now...

PHILADELPHIA,, Aug. 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- E'shee Clinical Esthetic introduced the next step in anti-aging skin care - White Truffle Radiance Cream - an amazingly powerful skin anti-oxidant. This supremely elegant formula combines the finest bioengineering technologies, and offers skin the most effective anti-oxidant protection and luxurious brightening action ever experienced in skincare formulation. The natural progression of the aging process is due to cellular degeneration. Today it...

The American Thoracic Society has released a new official clinical policy statement on the treatment of fungal infections in adult pulmonary and critical care patients. The statement replaces ATS guidelines published in 1988, and takes into account new medications and treatment approaches, as well as provides an overview of emerging fungi.The statement appears in the January 1, 2011, issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.Pulmonary fungal infections occur...

They are one of the most highly prized delicacies in the culinary world, but now scientists have discovered that black truffles are locked in a gender war for reproduction. The research, published in New Phytologist as the truffle season begins, represents a breakthrough in the understanding of truffle cultivation and distribution.The teams, led by Dr Francesco Paolocci and Dr Andrea Rubini from the CNR Plant Genetics Institute in Perugia and by Dr Francis Martin from INRA in Nancy, carried...

By Robert Sanders, UC BerkeleyHydrodynamic model of spore plumes explains how plume gives spores an extra oomphLong before geese started flying in chevron formation or cyclists learned the value of drafting, fungi discovered an aerodynamic way to reduce drag on their spores so as to spread them as high and as far as possible.One fungus, the destructive Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, spews thousands of spores nearly simultaneously to form a plume that reduces drag to nearly zero and even creates a...

Asian wheat may offer novel genes for shoring up the defenses of U.S. varieties against Fusarium graminearum fungi that cause Fusarium head blight (FHB) disease.According to Agricultural Research Service (ARS) plant molecular biologist Guihua Bai, the FHB resistance found in today's U.S. wheat varieties is primarily based on the Chinese wheat variety Sumai 3 and a few other sources. But there's concern that FHB-causing species of F. graminearum will overcome these resistant sources. In...

The genome of the black, golfball-sized edible mushroom known as the Perigord truffle has been successfully decoded by French and Italian researchers, a step that experts believe will cut down in fraudulent sales of Tuber melanosporum imposters.In a March 28 press release, officials from the French National for Agricultural Research (INRA), who worked alongside officials from the Universities of Lorraine and the Mediterranean and scientists at laborites in Turin, Parma, Urbina, Rome, and...

Phenomenon seen among spores dispersed by air flow, but not among animal-borne sporesThe reproductive spores of many species of fungi have evolved remarkably drag-minimizing shapes, according to new research by mycologists and applied mathematicians at Harvard University.In many cases, the scientists report this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the drag experienced by these fungal spores is within one percent of the absolute minimum possible drag for their size....