Biochemical and molecular characterization of South African strains of Phanerochaete chrysosporium

Phanerochaete chrysosporium and granulomatous lung disease in a mulch gardener

A 50-year-old woman who gardens regularly with rotting bark mulch presented with exertional dyspnea, diffusion impairment, and radiographic abnormalities (centrilobular nodules, tree-in-bud and ground glass opacities, calcified mediastinal and hilar lymph nodes) on a computed tomogram. Moderate lymphocytosis was noted on bronchoalveolar lavage. Surgical biopsy of her lung revealed granulomatous changes, and biopsies grew Phanerochaete chrysosporium, a fungus that causes white rot in tree bark. She was treated with voriconazole and instructed to avoid gardening, which led to radiographic and symptomatic improvement. She had recurrence of symptoms when she started doing yard work again. P. chrysosporium has been demonstrated to cause hypersensitivity pneumonitis in animal models. This case is the first documented report of P. chrysosporium associated with granulomatous lung disease in a human.

Use of fungi for the bioconversion of rice straw into cellulase enzyme

Cellulase production was carried out by solid state bioconversion (SSB) method using rice straw, a lignocellulosic material and agricultural waste, as the substrate of three Trichoderma spp. and Phanerochaete chrysosporium in lab-scale experiments. The results were compared to select the best fungi among them for the production of cellulase. Phanerochaete chrysosporium was found to be the best among these species of fungi, which produced the highest cellulase enzyme of 1.43 IU/mL of filter paper activity (FPase) and 2.40 IU/mL of carboxymethylcellulose activity (CMCase). The "glucosamine" and "reducing sugar" parameters were observed to evaluate the growth and substrate utilization in the experiments. In the case of Phanerochaete Chrysosporium, the highest glucosamine concentration was 1.60 g/L and a high concentration of the release of reducing sugar was measured as 2.58 g/L obtained on the 4th day of fermentation. The pH values were also recorded. The range of the pH was about 5.15 to 5.56 in the case of Phanerochaete Chrysosporium.