Study the influence of culture conditions on rennin production by Rhizomucor miehei using solid-state fermentations

What are the 100 most cited fungal genera?

The global diversity of fungi has been estimated between 2 to 11 million species, of which only about 155 000 have been named. Most fungi are invisible to the unaided eye, but they represent a major component of biodiversity on our planet, and play essential ecological roles, supporting life as we know it. Although approximately 20 000 fungal genera are presently recognised, the ecology of most remains undetermined. Despite all this diversity, the mycological community actively researches some fungal genera more commonly than others. This poses an interesting question: why have some fungal genera impacted mycology and related fields more than others? To address this issue, we conducted a bibliometric analysis to identify the top 100 most cited fungal genera. A thorough database search of the Web of Science, Google Scholar, and PubMed was performed to establish which genera are most cited. The most cited 10 genera are Saccharomyces, Candida, Aspergillus, Fusarium, Penicillium, Trichoderma, Botrytis, Pichia, Cryptococcus and Alternaria. Case studies are presented for the 100 most cited genera with general background, notes on their ecology and economic significance and important research advances. This paper provides a historic overview of scientific research of these genera and the prospect for further research. Citation: Bhunjun CS, Chen YJ, Phukhamsakda C, Boekhout T, Groenewald JZ, McKenzie EHC, Francisco EC, Frisvad JC, Groenewald M, Hurdeal VG, Luangsa-ard J, Perrone G, Visagie CM, Bai FY, Błaszkowski J, Braun U, de Souza FA, de Queiroz MB, Dutta AK, Gonkhom D, Goto BT, Guarnaccia V, Hagen F, Houbraken J, Lachance MA, Li JJ, Luo KY, Magurno F, Mongkolsamrit S, Robert V, Roy N, Tibpromma S, Wanasinghe DN, Wang DQ, Wei DP, Zhao CL, Aiphuk W, Ajayi-Oyetunde O, Arantes TD, Araujo JC, Begerow D, Bakhshi M, Barbosa RN, Behrens FH, Bensch K, Bezerra JDP, Bilański P, Bradley CA, Bubner B, Burgess TI, Buyck B, Čadež N, Cai L, Calaça FJS, Campbell LJ, Chaverri P, Chen YY, Chethana KWT, Coetzee B, Costa MM, Chen Q, Custódio FA, Dai YC, Damm U, de Azevedo Santiago ALCM, De Miccolis Angelini RM, Dijksterhuis J, Dissanayake AJ, Doilom M, Dong W, Alvarez-Duarte E, Fischer M, Gajanayake AJ, Gené J, Gomdola D, Gomes AAM, Hausner G, He MQ, Hou L, Iturrieta-González I, Jami F, Jankowiak R, Jayawardena RS, Kandemir H, Kiss L, Kobmoo N, Kowalski T, Landi L, Lin CG, Liu JK, Liu XB, Loizides M, Luangharn T, Maharachchikumbura SSN, Makhathini Mkhwanazi GJ, Manawasinghe IS, Marin-Felix Y, McTaggart AR, Moreau PA, Morozova OV, Mostert L, Osiewacz HD, Pem D, Phookamsak R, Pollastro S, Pordel A, Poyntner C, Phillips AJL, Phonemany M, Promputtha I, Rathnayaka AR, Rodrigues AM, Romanazzi G, Rothmann L, Salgado-Salazar C, Sandoval-Denis M, Saupe SJ, Scholler M, Scott P, Shivas RG, Silar P, Souza-Motta CM, Silva-Filho AGS, Spies CFJ, Stchigel AM, Sterflinger K, Summerbell RC, Svetasheva TY, Takamatsu S, Theelen B, Theodoro RC, Thines M, Thongklang N, Torres R, Turchetti B, van den Brule T, Wang XW, Wartchow F, Welti S, Wijesinghe SN, Wu F, Xu R, Yang ZL, Yilmaz N, Yurkov A, Zhao L, Zhao RL, Zhou N, Hyde KD, Crous PW (2024). What are the 100 most cited fungal genera? Studies in Mycology 108: 1-411. doi: 10.3114/sim.2024.108.01.

Production of poly (l-lactide)-degrading enzyme by Actinomadura keratinilytica strain T16-1 under solid state fermentation using agricultural wastes as substrate

Poly (l-lactide) (PLLA) is an aliphatic polyester that can be obtained from renewable resources and degraded by various microorganisms. In previous reports, Actinomadura keratinilytica strain T16-1 demonstrated high ability to degrade PLLA under various conditions. PLLA-degrading enzyme production under solid state fermentation has been sparsely studied. PLLA-degrading enzyme production by A. keratinilytica strain T16-1 was investigated using agricultural wastes as substrate under solid state fermentation (SSF). Three agricultural wastes as soybean meal, cassava chips and duckweed were tested as substrates for PLLA-degrading enzyme production by statistical methods using mixture design. Results revealed that using duckweed as the substrate gave the highest enzyme production (138.66 ± 13.57 U/g dry substrate). Maximum enzyme activity of 391.24 ± 15.57 U/g dry substrate was obtained under 10 g duckweed, 10% inoculum size, 7 days of cultivation time, pH 7.0, 2.8% PLLA powder, and 60% moisture content at 45 °C. It can be concluded that duckweed is an inexpensive substrate, which reduces the costs of PLLA-degrading enzyme production, as an alternative to effective water weed management.

Optimization of media composition and growth conditions for production of milk-clotting protease (MCP) from Aspergillus oryzae DRDFS13 under solid-state fermentation

This study reports the optimization of milk-clotting protease production from Aspergillus oryzae DRDFS13 under solid-state fermentation (SSF) in both one-variable-at-a-time and response surface methodology (RSM). The production and optimization of milk-clotting protease obtained from Aspergillus oryzae DRDFS13 under solid-state fermentation (SSF) using different agro-industrial wastes as solid substrates were studied. The agro-industrial wastes used included wheat bran, rice bran, pea bran, and grass pea bran. The chemical composition of the best solid substrate was tested using standard methods. Others cultivation parameters were studied, and the results showed that the optimum fermentation medium composed of wheat bran, casein (1% w/w), and glucose (0.5% w/w) and the conditions for maximum milk-clotting protease production were at the moisture content of 55.0%, inoculum of 0.5*10⁶ spores/mL, incubation temperature of 30 °C, pH of 6.0, and fermentation time of 5 days. The highest milk-clotting activity was obtained from the crude enzyme extracted using 0.1 M NaCl and partial purification of the crude enzyme using chilled acetone, and 80% (NH₄)₂SO₄ increased the ratio of MCA/PA from 0.56 to 1.30 and 0.65, respectively. Moreover, the highest MCA (137.58 U/mL) was obtained at a casein concentration of 0.5%, pH 4.0, and 25 °C, using RSM. Thus, results from the present study showed that the optimization of milk-clotting protease production from A. oryzae DRDFS 13 under SSF by both one-variable-at-a-time and RSM significantly increased the milk-clotting activity. This is the first report from a fungus in the Ethiopian setting and a modest contribution to highlight the potential of harnessing microbial protease enzymes for industrial applications.

Bioconversion of Chicken Feather Meal by Aspergillus niger: Simultaneous Enzymes Production Using a Cost-Effective Feedstock Under Solid State Fermentation

This study reported for the first time the simultaneous production of hydrolytic enzymes by Aspergillus niger under solid state fermentation using chicken feather meal as substrate. The effect of some culture parameters for production of protease, lipase, phytase and keratinase enzymes was evaluated using a central composite rotatable design. The results obtained demonstrated that the independent variables initial moisture of the culture medium and incubation temperature presented as highly significant on the enzymes production. The production of protease and lipase followed a similar profile, in which the highest values of enzymatic activities were detected after 48 h of fermentation. The conduction of the fermentative process using an initial moisture of 50%, 30 °C as incubation temperature and supplementation of the feather meal with 15% wheat bran resulted in higher yields of protease (> 300 U g^-1) and lipase (> 90 U g^-1) after 48 h and satisfactory values of phytase activity (> 70 U g^-1) after 72 h. No significant effects of the independent variables on keratinase production were observed. However, under the selected conditions for the other enzymes, keratinase production reached values higher than 13 U g^-1 after 72 h fermentation. Thus, our work contributed to the proposal of an alternative process for the simultaneous production of proteases, lipases, phytases and keratinases in a single and simplified process using chicken feather meal.