Eucaryotic Genomes

[tcmgpt13]

It looks as if there is a lot of research into genomes these days. Some of the research is not something I am glad to hear about. Stumbled across this page while trying to learn more about Trichoplax adhaerens. Lovely photos of things which are used for genome studies and biotechnology. I will just hight light a few from this page. Makes one shudder in anticipation to see where all this will lead.:

JGI Eukaryotic Genomics

"Aspergillus Niger. Citric acid production by the filamentous ascomycete fungus, Aspergillus niger represents the most efficient, highest yielding bioprocess in practice. This process is a model for other filamentous fungal fermentation processes that will become a key part of DOE's vision of the biorefinery, where multiple products such as organic acids and ethanol, are produced from renewable biomass. These products can be further refined for use as plastic monomers, solvents, or fuels, thereby decreasing dependence on petroleum, the traditional source of these products."

Just what someone who is quite allergic to this particular mold wants to think about. It makes me understand why I used to love the story about the Mad Hatter at the tea party with Alice as a young child. Someday I was actually going to need this insight to retain sanity. This use of Aspergillus Niger could literally leave me breathless. Think of all the lovely outgassing with the plastics and solvents which will ensue not too mention the fumes in the air from making ethanol with Aspergillus Niger.

This next sounds just lovely too:

JGI Trichoderma virens Gv29-8 Home

"Trichoderma virens is a haploid, filamentous hyphomycete (a subclass of fungi). As strains of T. virens are used to protect many crops from a variety of pathogens, this species is a model system for elucidating the mechanisms of biological control. Mechanisms being investigated include mycoparasitism and antibiosis (direct interaction with the pathogen), induction of host plant resistance, metabolism of pathogen germination stimulants released by seeds, and increased tolerance to stress by enhancing plant growth (indirect effects). Since this fungus is present in most soils throughout the world, isolates affect ecosystem health and productivity. This occurs both through interactions with pathogens and through induced changes in plant chemistry, which influence growth and interactions with insect pests.

Interestingly, interactions with plants develop as ingress into the root epidermal cells is initiated by hyphae of T. virens, but further branching into other root cells does not occur. The ability to rapidly and extensively colonize roots, induce resistance mechanisms in plants, and enhance the growth of plants while remaining an aggressive parasite of plant pathogenic fungi places T. virens in a very unique biological niche. Stated simply, T. virens possesses combinations of traits within a single organism that are usually associated with distinct species of symbionts or pathogens. In addition to the production of novel secondary metabolites (of interest to the pharmaceutical and agricultural sectors), T. virens has the capacity to degrade hazardous compounds, including pesticides, polyphenols, and polyaromatic hydrocarbons, and to sequester heavy metals. Whether as a bioaugmentation agent or as part of a phytoremediation system, T. virens possesses metabolic diversity that exceeds that of most of the extant sequenced fungal genomes. The genome sequence and subsequent functional and comparative genetic analyses will provide a context for understanding the enigmatic biology of this fungus."

Oh, I forgot. Here is an interesting potential source of cellulotic fungus as sugar and biomass materials. Yum. Or is it already here?:

JGI T. reesei, v2.0 Home

"Trichoderma reesei is an industrially important cellulolytic filamentous fungus. In light of of T. reesei's capacity to secrete large amounts of cellulases and hemi cellulases, the DOE is funding research into developing T. reesei as a host to produce low cost enzymes for the conversion of plant biomass materials into industrially useful bioproducts such as sugars and bioethanol.

As a system for studying genomics, T. reesei with its genome size of 33Mb and seven chromosomes has many advantages: EST and cDNA collections, BAC libraries available to academic researchers from the Fungal Genomics Laboratory at NCSU, DNA mediated transformation is a routine procedure, gene knockout protocols have been developed and there is an active academic community of researchers world-wide."

And yes the Trichoplax adhaerens is mentioned as well:

JGI Trichoplax adhaerens Grell-BS-1999 v1.0 Home

[Jo]

Hi tcm,

Very interesting. No wonder fungi are eating CDs

Nice Trichoplax photos. The first one - birds eye view is a heathy one, because its pink. One sign apparently.

The second photo is a good one showing the marginal bulge around its edge - bit like puff pastry. Also the fold rising in the middle.

Here endth tonights anatomy lesson ;o)

Joey xxx

[jonsi]

I think I mentioned back in April when I was sick again that my Doctor (a chiropractor that uses muscle testing, tbm/kenesiology) found I had aspergillus and strep in my lungs. (He also found the Morgellons was hiding in my connective and neural tissues.)

For the strep he gave me "Neutrophil Plus": (besides vitamins & minerals) ribonucleic acid, maitake mushroom (aerial part), chrysanthemum morifolium (flower-extract), loquat (... leaf-extract) , dyer's wood (... root-extract), prickley ash (... bark-extract), thyme (... leaf-extract), mullien (... leaf-extract), phragmites communis (root-extract), barberry (... bark-extract), oregon grape (... root-extract). my dosage: 4 tabs 2x/day for 10 days

The next week I no longer tested positive for strep or aspergillus. (he used tbm for the morgellons)

Please remember that no one should start taking any medication (pharmacetical or homeopathic) without the recommendation from your health-care professional.

In the white light,
~jonsi

[carla]

Good posts as always Tcm.x
These supposedly intelligent people are even proud of what they are doing.
Good to know you have a decent Doctor,Jonsi.x
carla xxxx

[Kritters]

Anyone wear blue jeans? 'stone washed' blue jeans? I was researching the green mold I found on top of my friend's 'wagon train' coffee of 5 days. I came across this on trichoderma and knew it was in a post here............

Trichoderma viride, the dark green mold and maker of fungal-digested jeans. Tom Volk's Fungus of the Month for November 2004

"Because of its chitinases, Trichoderma can be a parasite of other fungi. Remember that the cell walls of fungi are primarily composed of chitin, a polymer of n-acetyl-glucosamine......"

huh! I didn't know the cell walls of fungi are primarily composed of chitin.

No chitin ya!

And check this out..."Trichoderma also can be used as a biological control against plant pathogenic fungi. Trichoderma has shown promise against such plant pathogens as Rhizoctonia, Pythium, and even Armillaria. Even though its effectiveness and safety has yet to be proven, you can even buy Trichoderma inoculum! "

Hey....proven safety has never stopped them before....

Kritters