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The thermophilic fungus Gymnascella thermotolerans GTE-21 produces a significant amount of both volatile and nonvolatile compounds with potent antifungal and anticancer properties. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was utilized to identify 14 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released by G. thermotolerans. The most predominant compound identified was diisooctyl phthalate, constituting 71.99% of the total VOCs, followed by phenol, 2-methoxy-4-(2-propenyl) at 7.12%. The GTE-21's VOCs demonstrated significant antifungal growth inhibition activity of 42.5% against Fusarium solani and 39.03% against Alternaria alternata. Additionally, GTE-21's crude extract exhibited substantial antibacterial effects, evidenced by inhibition zones of 1.5 cm against S. epidermidis, 1.4 cm against C. ciferrii, and 1.3 cm against S. aureus. The CHR2RClR2R:MeOH (1:1) fraction was more effective against human pathogens, producing the largest zones of inhibition of 1.1 and 1.03 cm against S. epidermidis and C. ciferrii, respectively. The evaluation of GTE-21's antifungal activity using the Evans blue assay showed that fungal spores treated with GTE-21's crude extract exhibited 96.2% inhibition at a concentration of 25 mg/ml. Similarly, the fractions CH2Cl2:MeOH (1:1) and CH2Cl2:MeOH (9:1) demonstrated spore inhibition rates of 96.3% and 94.3%, respectively. The EtOAc crude extract demonstrated pronounced cytotoxic effects against the SKOV-3 and MDA-MB-231 cancer cell lines. For SKOV-3, cell viability decreased to 3.40% and 0.47% at concentrations of 50 and 100 μL, respectively. In the case of MDA-MB-231, cell viability was reduced to 0.19% at both 50 and 100 μL concentrations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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One of the most desired and promising diets in Egypt is beef products. It is an enriched media for mycotoxins. The occurrence of aflatoxigenic Aspergillus species is inspected in commercial beef products, HPLC-quantitative amount of aflatoxin B1, B2, G1, and G2 excesses, and genetic identification of aflatoxin regulatory gene (aflR1) by conventional PCR. Two hundred and forty commercial products (minced meat, beef kofta, beef sausage, beef burger, beef luncheon, frozen meat, beef frozen liver, chicken luncheon, chicken burger, chicken frozen liver, mloha, and fesikh; n=20 for each) were collected from different markets at Aswan City, Egypt. Enumeration, isolation, and identification of mold species were carried to each sample. The amount of aflatoxins was measured using HPLC. Genetic identification of the aflR1 gene in Aspergillus was performed using PCR. Mloha samples recorded the highest total mold count whereas the beef luncheon recorded the lowest mould count. Four fungal genera were identified and Aspergillus spp recorded the main with an incidence of 25.8%. By PCR, the aflR1 gene was productively augmented in all the tested Aspergillus spp. The findings illustrated that among the samples that were examined; the prevalence of AFB1 was 65%, followed by AFG2 at 63%, AFB2 at 40%, and AFG1 at 30%. Additionally, mloha (724.2±14.6), poultry frozen liver (288±6.7), and beef frozen liver (91.6±12.2) had higher mean values of total aflatoxins contamination than other samples. Every sample that has been analyzed shows a positive correlation between the amount of reduced total mycotoxins found in the samples and the increased dose of gamma irradiation used to treat the samples. Conclusion: Aflatoxin is frequently linked to meat, poultry, and fish, as well as the products made from these foods. The production of aflatoxin in meat, as well as the products made from it, creates a danger to the public's health. Thus, the most effective way to prevent aflatoxigenic mould contamination during the product's production stages is to apply stringent hygienic standards when processing meat products and to use high-quality flavoring agents as spices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fruit rot disease of sweet melon is responsible for serious of economic crop losses that have occurred sporadically in Aswan, Egypt recently. The symptoms appeared as water-soaking lesion which advanced to the rotting of the fruit surface. White mycelial mats with brown color inside appear on the lesion at the surface of the fruit. Disease symptoms, morphological and mycological characteristics, pathogenicity and molecular identification, indicated as Fusarium solani, are the disease causative. When healthy fruits of sweet melon sprayed with spore suspension of the isolated F. solani, the disease symptoms appeared as white spot, which enlarged and turned brown. Dual culture techniques showed that the endophytic fungi, Aspergillus terreus, Fusarium solani and Penicillium verrucosum isolated from the medicinal plant Solenostemma arghel inhibited the pathogen growth in variable levels. The extract of ethyl acetate of the endophytic fungal was found to be active against Fusarium solani. The ethyl acetate fractions of Penicillium verrucosum inhibited the pathogen growth by 47% while A. terreus, and F. solani showed inhibition percentage of 45% and 40%, respectively [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on mycoflora of hyoscyamus muticus growing under an extremely arid desert. environment. Hyoscyamus muticus or the Egyptian henbane is a medicinal plant living in the desert belonging to family Solanaceae. The plant produces tropane alkaloids, a pharmaceutical compounds, as secondary metabolites. The plant is can be found in different locations at the Aswan region in Egypt. Counterreaction between hyoscyamus muticus diverse fungi species under the desert contributed to the production of medicinal compounds.

Hyoscyamus muticus L. (Egyptian henbane) is one of the desert medicinal plants of family Solanaceae. The plant produces pharmaceutically important compounds (tropane alkaloids) as secondary metabolites. In the present study, we describe mycoflora of H. muticus grown in four different locations in Egyptian southern desert (Aswan region): Aswan university campus, Wadi Allaqi down stream part, Aswan airport road, and Sahari city. Eighty-one species and two varieties belonging to 31 genera were isolated from soils surrounding H. muticus plants, the surface of the plants, and inside the plants as endophytic fungi. Aspergillus was the most common genus in all study areas. The highest number of genera and species of fungi were recorded in Aswan university campus followed by Aswan airport road. Fungal diversity analysis revealed that these two locations have higher fungal diversity compared to other two locations. A higher number of fungal species were isolated from rhizosphere soil and rhizoplane than from non-rhizosphere and other plant organs. Endophytic fungi were isolated from all plant parts of H. muticus. Communications between H. muticus plants and fungi under desert conditions both in rhizosphere and inside the plant are deduced.

The tomato saponin alpha-tomatine has been proposed to kill sensitive cells by binding to cell membranes followed by leakage of cell components. However, details of the modes of action of the compound on fungal cells are poorly understood. In the present study, mechanisms involved in alpha-tomatine-induced cell death of fungi were examined using a filamentous pathogenic fungus Fusarium oxysporum. alpha-Tomatine-induced cell death of F. oxysporum (TICDF) occurred only under aerobic conditions and was blocked by the mitochondrial F(0)F(1)-ATPase inhibitor oligomycin, the caspase inhibitor D-VAD-fmk, and protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide. Fungal cells exposed to alpha-tomatine showed TUNEL-positive nuclei, depolarization of transmembrane potential of mitochondria, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation. These results suggest that TICDF occurs through a programmed cell death process in which mitochondria play a pivotal role. Pharmacological studies using inhibitors suggest that alpha-tomatine activates phosphotyrosine kinase and monomeric G-protein signaling pathways leading to Ca(2+) elevation and ROS burst in F. oxysporum cells.