Search

Natural melanin was extracted from Lachnum YM156 (LIM). LIM had better thermostability and light resistance, and its solubility was relatively high under alkaline conditions. Simultaneously, we examined its hepatoprotective effect in Cd-exposure mice. Cd-exposure resulted in decreasing weight growth rate, raised liver index, elevated serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransaminase (AST), and increased Cd accumulation in livers. Hepatic oxidative stress was evidenced by increased malondialdehyde (MDA) contents, decreased glutathione (GSH) contents, and decreased activities of dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), and catalase (CAT) after CdCl2 administration. Additionally, Cd-exposure also increased the liver level of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interleukin(IL)-1β. Furthermore, the result of quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction(qRT-PCR) showed that Cd-exposure reduced the mRNA expression level of NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), heme oxygenase (HO-1), NADPH quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO-1), and elevated the mRNA expression level of factor-kappaB (NF-κB) p65, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in livers. However, all these changes were dose-dependently reversed by LIM. Overall, the present findings demonstrated that LIM have the hepatoprotective effect through antioxidant and anti-inflammatory responses in Cd-exposure mice.

Type specimen of Lachnum japonicum Syd. & P. Syd. was discovered in the National Museum of Nature and Science (TNS). Based on the morphological reexamination of it, the species was transferred to the genus Trichopezizella. Trichopezizella japonica comb. nov. was proposed and the specimen was designated as lectotype.

In the present study, an intracellular melanin (LIM) of Lachnum YM30 was obtained by submerged fermentation, extraction and purification. The possible structural formula of LIM was concluded, based on UV, FTIR, elemental assay, NMR and MS spectrometry, which showed the typical features of fungal eumelanin. The hepatoprotective effect of LIM was evaluated in an acute LPS/D-GalN induced liver injury mice model which was proved by the increase of inflammatory factors, enhancing the content of anti-inflammatory factors IL-4 and IL-10 to reduce liver damage shows that LIM can protect liver against LPS/D-GalN toxicity via reducing inflammatory stress. The mechanisms underlying this protective effect may be related to inhibition of NF-κB activation. And compared with the single positive drug treatment or the melanin treatment groups, the results showed that the combined treatment group could further reduce the inflammatory reaction of the model mice.

This study was designed to investigate the liver and kidney protective efficacy of a Lachnum polysaccharide (LEP) against Pb-induced toxicity in mice. The results showed that LEP decreased the Pb-induced bodyweight loss and organ index. Moreover, biochemical analysis showed that treatment of LEP could improve antioxidant status (CAT, GSH-Px and MDA) and the injury of tissues (liver and kidney). In addition, the histopathological observations indicated that LEP could attenuate liver and kidney cell injury induced by Pb. For further studies, key proteins involved in hepatic and kidney apoptosis, including cleaved caspase-3, Bax, Bcl-2, TGF-β1 and α-SMA, were quantified. The present findings demonstrated that LEP is strongly effective in protecting against the liver and kidney injury induced by Pb. We hope this research can offer a theoretical base for development of polysaccharide based on nutraceutical food in future.

The antimetabolite 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) is a widely used antitumor agent, however the overall response rate to 5-FU as a single agent is usually limited. Herein, how Lachnum expolysaccharide (LEP-2a), a type of active polysaccharide isolated from Lachnum sp., acted synergistically with 5-FU on HepG2 cells was investigated. It was found that LEP-2a notably enhanced 5-FU sensitivity in HepG2 cells in a synergistic manner. After combination treatment of 5-FU and LEP-2a, Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK and PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway were inactivated. In addition, combination treatment induced generation of reactive oxygen species, decreased the levels of intracellular antioxidant enzymes and triggered mitochondrial apoptosis pathway. Furthermore, 5-FU combined with LEP-2a also resulted in p53 activation and NF-κB inhibition, and cell cycle arrest in the S phase as well as cell metastasis stagnation. Interestingly, LEP-2a treatment also blocked the DNA damage repair procedure. These findings demonstrate that LEP-2a enhanced 5-FU sensitivity and combination of 5-FU and LEP-2a exerts synergistic antitumor efficiency through multiple approaches.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has been gradually considered as a public health challenge worldwide. This study determined the protective effect of Lachnum polysaccharide (LEP) on dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced experimental colitis in mice and explored the underlying mechanism. Results showed that dietary LEP reduced DSS-induced disease activity index (DAI), colon shortening and colonic tissue damage. LEP treatment restored intestinal barrier integrity by regulating the expression of tight junction proteins and mucus layer protecting proteins. Moreover, pro-inflammatory cytokine production was inhibited by LEP through regulating PPARγ/NF-κB and IL-6/STAT3 pathways and inhibiting inflammatory cell infiltration. In addition, LEP also inhibited (NOD)-like receptor family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome activation, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and oxidative/nitrosative stress induced by DSS. These results provided a scientific basis for LEP as a potential natural agent for protecting mice from DSS-induced IBD.

An exopolysaccharide (LEP) was isolated from the fermented broth of Lachnum YM240. The structure of LEP was analyzed by fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FT-IR), high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC MS), and 1D and 2D-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR). The carboxymethylated and sulfated derivatives of LEP was difined as CLEP and SLEP which with molecular weight (Mw) of 3.64 × 104 and 2.17 × 104 g/mol respectively. The yield of CLEP and SLEP were 60.27 ± 3.04% and 42.88 ± 2.16%, with degree of substitution (DS) values of 0.36 and 0.14 respectively. The result of antioxidant activity and hypoglycemic activity showed that CLEP with higher (DS) and (Mw) exhibited stronger antioxidant abilities on scavenging DPPH radical and hydroxyl radical compared with SLEP and LEP, with EC50 value of 1.05 and 0.80 mg/mL respectively. The reducing power of CLEP (0.533) and SLEP (0.428) was greater than LEP (0.353). In addition, CLEP and SLEP showed higher alpha-glucosidase inhibitory and alpha-amylase inhibition activities and exhibited significant inhibitory effects against the diffusion of glucose compared to LEP. Furthermore, CLEP and SLEP showed more significant effects than LEP at the same dosage, indicating that carboxymethylation and sulfation modifications were effective ways to enhance antioxidant and hypoglycemic activities of the polysaccharide.

In the present study, we investigated the anti-tumor activities of the intracellular homogeneous melanin (LM) of Lachnum YM226 and its derivative (ALM) on liver cancer using murine H22 hepatocarcinoma model. The results showed that LM and ALM (50 and 200 mg kg-1) could effectively inhibit tumor growth of H22 tumour-bearing mice. The body weight, liver, spleen and thymus indices also improved in the LM and ALM treated groups. Moreover, the levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransaminase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), creatinine (CRE), blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and uric acid (UA) were lowered. Serum cytokines of interleukin-2 (IL-2), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interferon-γ (IFN-γ) were increased on LM and ALM administration, while LM and ALM significantly decreased the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) levels. The H&E staining indicated that LM and ALM exhibited antitumor activity in vivo by promoting apoptosis and inhibiting angiogenesis. The anti-tumor effect of ALM was more significant than that of LM for the same dose. In summary, the findings demonstrated that LM and ALM might be promising candidates for the prevention and treatment of HCC.

In recent years, combination therapy has gradually become one of the hot spots. As a new therapy strategy, we investigated the combination treatment of polysaccharide from Lachnum sp. (LEP-2b) with silymarin and compared the effects with mono-therapy. In this study, combining high-dose LEP-2b with silymarin (CH) significantly reduced serum biochemistry indexes (ALT, AST, AKP, LDH), hepatic inflammation (TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-1β) and improved the antioxidant status (SOD, CAT, GSH-Px, GSH, MDA and T-AOC), in which its effect on TNF-α was very significant (P 0.001). Therefore, the expressions of related proteins in the JNK/p38 signaling pathway associated with TNF-α were examined. The result showed that CH treatment markedly increased the expression of p-p38 and inhibited the JNK phosphorylation. TUNEL staining, immunohistochemical staining and western blot assays demonstrated that the hepatoprotective effect of CH treatment was probably related with inhibiting hepatocyte apoptosis. In summary, combination of high dose LEP-2b with silymarin would be a more effective method to protect liver injury than mono-therapy.

The present study was designed to evaluate the anti-fatigue activity of an exopolysaccharide LEP-1b and its carboxymethylated derivative CLEP-1b from a Lachnum sp. Carboxymethylation was confirmed through FT-IR and 13C NMR spectroscopies, which showed that the (-CH2COOH) group was attached to an oxygen (O) atom of the hydroxyl group on (C-3) of LEP-1b. Each treatment group LEP-1b and CLEP-1b at doses (50, 100, 200mg/kg, respectively) ameliorated physical fatigue and extended exhaustive swimming time in mice. Results of the fatigue related biochemical markers showed that LEP-1b and CLEP-1b at doses (50, 100, 200mg/kg, respectively) increased the content of hepatic glycogen and decreased the level of serum urea nitrogen and lactic acid. Additionally, LEP-1b and CLEP-1b enhanced the antioxidant enzymes' activities and reduced the lipid peroxidation. Moreover, results revealed that CLEP-1b had higher anti-fatigue activity than LEP-1b at same doses but without statistical significance, especially CLEP-1b (200mg/kg) had strong anti-fatigue effects. Therefore, LEP-1b and CLEP-1b can potentially be exploited as a kind of healthcare compound to combat fatigue and to boost physical strength.

The study was to investigate the ameliorating effects and potential mechanism of an exopolysaccharide (LEP-2a) and its derivatives against CCl 4 induced acute liver damage. LEP-2a, one exopolysaccharide from Lachnum YM406, was phosphorylated and selenized to prepare its derivatives. LEP-2a and its derivatives could alleviate liver injury, which were proved by hepatosomatic index, liver histopathological assessment and biochemical indicators of liver damage, antioxidant defense system and inflammatory reaction. The mechanisms of liver protection effect were related to reducing hepatocyte apoptosis by down-regulating expression of Fas, Fas-L and ratio of Bax/Bcl-2 as well as the activation of caspase 3/8 and cleavage of PARP caused by CCl 4 , which were associated with Fas/Fas-L and mitochondrial pathway. Moreover, liver fibrosis was also markedly relieved by activating HGF/c-Met pathway and down-regulating expression of vimentin and ICAM-1 as well as normalizing PHB expression. In conclusion, LEP-2a and its derivatives exhibited notable liver protection effect in multiple ways.

LEP-2a, previously obtained from Lachnum YM130 exopolysaccharide, was acetylated and benzoylated successfully, which were confirmed by FT-IR and 13 C NMR analyses. The derivatives were designated as ALEP-2a and BLEP-2a, respectively, and their respective degree of substitution were 0.220 and 0.574. Our study showed that LEP-2a and its derivatives treatments significantly increased the activities of SOD, GPx, CAT and decreased the level of MDA in heart of the diabetic mice, meanwhile, the levels of AGEs, hs-CRP, sICAM-1, NO and ET-1 in serum were markedly inverted. In addition, histopathological observation also showed that polysaccharide treatement alleviated myocardial structure disorder and confluent necrosis of cardiac muscle fibers in the diabetic mice, especially the 200 mg/kg dose ALEP-2a-treated and BLEP-2a-treated. The above results suggest that ALEP-2a and BLEP-2a can preferably maintain the levels of antioxidant enzymes and improve cardiovascular function in the diabetic mice. In conclusion, LEP-2a and its derivatives possess potent cardioprotective effect, supporting them as promising cardioprotective agents in diabetes mellitus.

This study aimed to investigate the antibacterial activity of Lachnum YM30 intracellular melanin (LIM). The dilution method was used to measure the MIC and MBC of Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Gram-positive bacteria Listeria monocytogenes, Bacillus megaterium, Staphylococcus aureus. MIC values for each bacterial strain were 0.4, 2.4, 0.2, 0.6, 0.8, 0.3 mg/mL, and the MBC values were 0.4, 3.2, 0.3, 0.8, 0.8, 0.4 mg/mL, respectively. Bacteriostasis of LIM against S. aureus (G+) and V. parahaemolyticus (G−) was further revealed by SEM observation, testing integrity of cell membrane, NPN uptake and membrane potential. MTT experiment was used to estimate the cell cytotoxicity of LIM. The results showed that LIM significantly damaged the integrity of cell membrane, increased the leakage of cell contents, raised the quantity of NPN uptake and reduced the membrane potential. LIM had no obvious cell cytotoxicity at low concentrations. These findings indicated that LIM had antibacterial activity and could be applied as a potential natural bacteriostatic agent in the food or pharmaceutical industry.

In the present study, an intracellular melanin, named LIM205, was separated from Lachnum YM205 mycelia and was purified on a Sephadex G-15 column. The molecular weight of LIM205 was determined as 522 Da, and its molecular formula was speculated as C28H14N2O7S. The possible chemical structure of LIM205 was determined according to the results of Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and pyrolysis/GC-MS analysis. With the aim to increase its water solubility, its carboxymethylated derivative, named CLIM205, was formed by the substitution of hydrogen atoms in LIM205 with one, two, and three carboxymethylate groups. FT-IR, UV, and ESI-MS analysis demonstrated that the carboxymethylate groups were conjugated onto LIM205. The lead detoxification activities of LIM205 and CLIM205 had also been investigated. In vivo test showed that both LIM205 and CLIM205 reduced the tissue lead concentration, enhanced lead excretion, and reversed lead-induced alterations in superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), and malondialdehyde (MDA) concentrations in mice, with CLIM205 showed better efficacy. The study indicates that LIM205 and CLIM205 have significant lead detoxification effect which will contribute to solve related problems.

Carboxymethylated and sulfated polysaccharides (CLEP and SLEP) were prepared from an exopolysaccharide previously obtained from Lachnum YM240 (LEP) by chemical modifications. Two doses (50 mg kg-1 and 200 mg kg-1 b. w.) of LEP, CLEP and SLEP were orally administered to normal mice and type 2 diabetic mice (T2DM) that were induced by streptozotocin (STZ) and a high fat diet, respectively. The hypoglycemic effect was evaluated by testing the oral glucose tolerance, fasting blood glucose (FBG) levels, fasting serum insulin (FINS), glycosylated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), and the hypolipidemic effect was evaluated by the body, spleen, pancreas, liver and kidney weights, as well as serum triglycerides (TG), cholesterol (TC) and free fatty acids (FFA). After four weeks of administration, LEP, CLEP and SLEP showed a marked FBG fall rate of 11.2%, 44.0% and 42.5% for the high-dose and 7.43%, 38.5% and 33.1% for the low-dose, respectively, as compared to the DC group. Moreover, compared with DC mice, TC concentrations in the high-dose groups of LEP, CLEP and SLEP were significantly decreased by 29.6%, 38.7% (P < 0.05), 33.0% (P < 0.05), and TG concentrations decreased by 18.9%, 43.9% (P < 0.01), 29.0% (P < 0.05), respectively. In addition, LEP and the derivatives significantly upregulated the expression of glucokinase (GK) and adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) in the liver, AMPK and glucose transporter 4 (Glut4) in skeletal muscle and peroxysome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR-γ) in adipose tissue, whereas downregulated the expression of glucose-6-phosphatase (G6P) in the liver; these were examined using ELISA detection kits. These results for FBG and serum lipids indicate that LEP and its derivatives possess significant hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic effects and carboxymethylation improved the hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic effects more effectively than sulfation. Therefore, the carboxymethylated and sulfated modifications were effective ways to enhance the hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic activities of polysaccharides.

This study aimed to elucidate the therapeutic effects of oral administration of intracellular melanin from Lachnum YM156 (LIM) on chronic renal failure (CRF) in mice. The cytotoxicity of LIM was evaluated using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. CRF was induced in mice by chronic dietary adenine intake. We have used this intervention to explore the effects of oral treatment with LIM (100 and 200 mg kg-1) in CRF mice. The treatment with LIM alone and a combination of Haikunshenxi capsule (HC) add LIM increased the concentration levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX), and glutathione reductase (GSH), reduced malonaldehyde (MDA) in the nephridial tissues and also reduced the nephridial levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin-1β (IL-1β), and interleukin (IL)-6, and the activities of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). Interestingly, the HC and LIM combination produced a higher therapeutic effect than HC alone. The mechanism of the reported salutary effects of LIM in adenine-induced CRF is associated with amelioration of the adenine induced inflammation and oxidative stress. The present findings recommend that LIM is a useful natural product which can be used to enhance the protection function of HC in CRF mice.

A description is provided for Lachnum sulphureum . Some information on its associated organisms and substrata, dispersal and transmission, habitats and conservation status is given, along with details of its geographical distribution (Africa (Morocco, Rwanda), North America (Canada (Manitoba, Ontario), USA (California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Washington)), South America (Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul)), Asia (Republic of Georgia, India (Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand), Japan, Kazakhstan (Almaty Oblast, East Kazakhstan), Nepal, Russia (Altai Krai, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, Primorsky Krai), Turkey), Australasia (Australia (Victoria), New Zealand (also Kermadek Islands)), Europe (Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia (Kursk Oblast, Leningrad Oblast, Mari El Republic, Moscow Oblast, Vladimir Oblast), Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, UK)).

A novel Lachnum sp. exopolysaccharide (LEP-2a) was separated and purified by DEAE-52 cellulose and Sephadex G-100 chromatographic columns, with relative molecular weight of 2.3 × 10 4 Da. One- and two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance analysis combined with methylation analysis results revealed that LEP-2a was a galactomannan with a backbone structure composed of α-(1 → 3,4)- d -Man p , α-(1 → 2)- d -Man p , α-(1 → 2,6)- d -Man p and β-(1 → 3)- d -Gal p residues, which was substituted at O-3, O-4, O-2, O-6 by branches. Side chains were composed of α-(1 → 3,4)- d -Man p , α-(1 → 2)- d -Man p , α-(1 → 2,6)- d -Man p and β-(1 → 3)- d -Gal p terminated by terminal α- d -Man p . Activities researches enlightened that LEP-2a could play a role in reducing blood glucose as one α-glucosidase inhibitor.

The phthaloyl polysaccharide (PHEP-2a) was prepared from a Lachnum exopolysaccharide (LEP-2a) by chemical modification, with a degree of substitution of 0.251. The results of UV, FT-IR, 1H NMR and 13C NMR analysis indicated that phthaloyl modification of polysaccharide was successful. Moreover, both elemental contents and thermal properties of the polysaccharide were changed after phthaloyl modification. Immunomodulatory activity evaluation revealed that compared with negative control group, LEP-2a and its derivative at high dose could remarkably increase the body weight, organ indexes, phagocytic index and half hemolysis value, promote splenocytes proliferation activity, improve the production of serum cytokines, such as interleukin-2 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and enhance the activities of acid phosphatase and lactate dehydrogenase in cyclophosphamide-treated mice. They could also enhance the contents of T-SOD and GSH-Px while decrease MDA levels in cyclophosphamide-treated mice. Furthermore, PHEP-2a showed more significant effects than LEP-2a at the same dosage, indicating that phthaloyl modification was an effective way to enhance the immunomodulatory activity of the polysaccharide.

A novel exopolysaccharide (LEP-1) was isolated from the fermented broth of Lachnum YM268 through ethanol precipitation, deproteinization, decolorization and purification. The physicochemical properties of LEP-1 were determined by high performance gel permeation chromatography (HPGPC), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (SEM), fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FT-IR), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS), and 1D- and 2D-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR). LEP-1 was a heteropolysaccharide with an average molecular weight of 473 kDa, which consisted of glucose (Glc) and mannose (Man) in a molar ratio of 1.3:1.0. The backbone of LEP-1 was composed of →1)-α-Man p -(3,6→, →2)-α-Man p -(6→, →1)-α-Glc p -(6→ and →1)-β-Glc p -(6→, and its branches consisted of →1)-β-Glc p , →1)-α-Man p -(3,6→ and →2)-α-Man p -(6→. The analysis of the chain conformation showed that LEP-1 had no triple helical structure. The effects of LEP-1 on the hematological parameters and anti-hypoxia activities of the experimental mice were studied. The results showed that LEP-1 had strong ability to increase the red blood cell (RBC) amount and hemoglobin (HGB) concentrations, and could also prolong the survival times of mice in normobarie hypoxia and sodium nitrite tests. These suggest LEP-1 may be considered as a potential candidate for developing novel anti-hypoxia agents.

In this paper, the possible structural formula of the intracellular homogeneous melanin of Lachnum YM226 (LM) was concluded based on an elemental assay, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), mass spectrometry (MS) and equivalent series resistance (ESR). Meanwhile, a d-glucosamine melanin derivative (GLM) was also prepared and its cytotoxicity was evaluated using the MTT assay. The hepatoprotective effect of LM and GLM was evaluated in an acute alcohol-induced liver injury model. The results showed that pretreatments with LM and GLM markedly decreased subsequent alcohol elicited acute hepatic oxidative and inflammatory stress via improving the activity of antioxidant enzymes (glutathione (GSH), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), and total superoxide dismutase (SOD)), reducing hepatic levels of nuclear transcription factor (NF-κB), cytokines related to its activation (interleukin (IL)-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and macrophage chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1) and hepatic activities of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase (COX)-2. The protection properties of alcoholic liver injury of GLM were more obvious than that of LM at the same dose. The present findings recommend that LM and GLM may be used as a prototype for the prevention of alcoholic liver injury.

This study investigated ericoid mycorrhizal fungi (EMF) diversity in Vaccinium uliginosum across its main wild distribution range in China. Fungal communities in hair roots of V. uliginosum were analyzed using Illumina MiSeq sequencing. Only 22 OTUs were assigned to putative EMF genera. Rhizoscyphus and Meliniomyces dominated EMF communities, followed by Clavaria, Oidiodendron, Lachnum, Acephala, and Phialocephala. There were more dark septate endophytes (DSE) reads from the Greater Khingan Mountains than from other study areas, similar to the results of the percent colonization of DSE by the magnified intersections method. Overall, high-throughput sequencing data provided a rough community-scale sketch of root-associated fungi of V. uliginosum. Two hundred and eighty slow-growing isolates were isolated from root pieces of V. uliginosum, and the isolates matched 16 fungal genera on the basis of morphological and internal transcribed spacer sequence comparison. The isolates of Cryptosporiopsis ericae, Oidiodendron maius, Lachnum sp., Sordariomycetes sp., and Pleosporales sp., formed ericoid hyphal coils via resynthesis trails. The co-existence between EMF and DSE in hair roots was observed via trypan blue staining. A putative model for the co-existence between EMF and DSE in the hair roots of V. uliginosum was proposed. We suggest that under certain environmental stresses, such as low temperature and poor available nutrients, ericoid plants may favor co-colonization by both DSE and EMF.

The physicochemical properties and the immunoregulatory actions in vitro of an exopolysaccharide from Lachnum (LEP) and its conjugation with a dipeptide (LEP-RH) were investigated aiming to improve their functional characteristics. The structure characteristic of the LEP and LEP-RH were determined via FT-IR and NMR. The physicochemical properties were evaluated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), rheometer, and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). SEM results showed that LEP-RH had a rough surface and relatively loose distribution that different from LEP. Rheological studies of LEP and LEP-RH at the same concentration indicated that LEP and LEP-RH have similar shear-thinning behaviors and gel-like structures, while LEP-RH has a better thermal stability than LEP. Bioassay results showed that treatment with the higher dosage (200 μg/mL) of LEP and LEP-RH stimulated the proliferation, cytokine secretion (IL-2, IL-6 and TNF-α) of RAW264.7 macrophages.

Exopolysaccharide of Lachnum YM130 (LEP) was purified by diethylaminoethyl cellulose 52 and Sepharose CL-6B column chromatography. LEP-2a was identified to be a homogeneous component with an average molecular weight of 1.31 × 106 Da, which was consisted of mannose and galactose in a molar ratio of 3.8:1.0. The structure of LEP-2a was characterized by methylation analysis, FT-IR analysis, and NMR analysis. Results indicated that LEP-2a was a galactomannan with a backbone, composed of 1,2-linked-α-D-Manp, 1,2,6-linked-α-D-Manp, 1,3,4-linked-α-D-Manp, and 1,3-linked-β-D-Galp, which was substituted at O-2, O-3, O-4, and O-6 by branches. In vitro antitumor activity assay proved that LEP-2a could significantly enhance the inhibitory effectiveness of 5-FU on Hela cells at the concentrations of 100, 200, 300, and 400 μg/mL. The above results suggested that LEP-2a could be seen as a potential source for developing novel antineoplastic agents.

Endophytes of healthy needles were collected from Picea rubens (red spruce) and P. mariana (black spruce) in a survey of southeastern New Brunswick, Canada. Four endophyte strains were selected for further investigation based on the production of biologically active extracts from culture filtrates during screening as well as phylogenetic relationship to species known to produce natural products or taxonomic novelty. A novel endophyte within the family Rhytismataceae produced two new dihydropyrones (1 and 2) as major metabolites together with phthalides (3 and 4), isocoumarins (5 and 6), and tyrosol (7). Lachnum cf. pygmaeum synthesized a new chlorinated para-quinone, chloromycorrhizinone A (8), and the nematicidal compounds (1'Z)-dechloromycorrhizin A (9), mycorrhizin A (10), and chloromycorrhizin A (11). A new isocoumarin (12) and four related structures (13-16) were isolated from an undescribed taxon in the Mycosphaerellaceae. The known antifungal metabolites cryptosporiopsin (17), 5-hydroxycryptosporiopsin (18), (+)-cryptosporiopsinol (19), and mellein (20) were produced by Pezicula sporulosa. Phylogenetically diverse conifer endophytes from the Acadian forest continue to be a productive source of new biologically active natural products.

Bukit Bendera is 833 m above sea level and situated in the Northern part of Penang Island, Malaysia. Generally an average temperature is between 20 to 27°C, which is about 5°C cooler than at the sea level. The hill dipterocarp forest dominates Bukit Bendera and tree fern scatteredly grows at higher altitude. Two Lachnum spp. were observed as pteridocolous cup fungi on decayed rachides of several tree fern species, Cyathea contaminans, C. latebrosa, and C. hymenodes. Lachnum oncospermatum is characterized by a wrinkled apothecium and branched stipe. The hairs contain brown colored resinous materials and are finely granulated. Lachnum lanariceps is characterized by a central and cylindrical stipe and hairs containing pale yellow pigment with red or garnet resinous matter. These two Lachnum species are new to Malaysia.

An exopolysaccharide (LEP-2b) with molecular weight of 2.8×10(4)Da was isolated from Lachnum YM405 and purified by DEAE-cellulose 52, Sepharose CL-6B chromatographic column. It consisted of rhamnose (Rha), mannose (Man), glucose (Glc) and galactose (Gal) in a molar ratio of 1.0:5.0:11.5:12.5. Its backbone consisted of →4)-β-d-Manp-(1→, →2)-α-d-Rhap-(1→, →6)-β-d-Glcp-(1→, and →6)-α-d-Galp-(1→, and three types of branches were composed of →6)-α-d-1-OMe-Manf-(2→, →6)-β-d-1-OMe-Manf-(2→, →1)-α-d-Galp-(6→, →1)-β-d-Galp-(6→, and →1)-β-d-Glcp, which were at O-3 of 1,3,6-linked α-d-Manp and O-2, O-3 of the same 1,2,3,6-linked β-d-Glcp in the backbone respectively. LEP-2b ointment significantly accelerated the decrustation of the wounded skin, shortened the healing time and increased the water and hydroxyproline contents of the healed skin. Combined with the results of macroscopic and histological observations, we deemed that LEP-2b could inhibit inflammatory reaction of scalded skin, accelerate tissue repair and re-epithelialization, thereby playing a positive role in promoting wound healing.