Book of Abstracts (PDF) - International Mycological Association

IMC7 Main Congress Theme I: BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION Posters
575 - Micromycetes isolated from air and soil in an
Italian carsic cave
E. Savino 1* , C. Buratti 1 , G. Caretta 1 , A. Fiorina 2 & E.
Salerni 3
1 Dep. Ecologia Territorio & Ambienti Terrestri, Via S.
Epifanio, 14 - 27100 Pavia, Italy. - 2 Servizio Pneumologico
A.S.L. 2 Savonese, Via Adelasia, 57 - 17021 Alassio (SV),
Italy. - 3 Dep. Environmental Sciences, Via P. A. Mattioli, 4
- 53100 Siena, Italy. - E-mail: esavino@et.unipv.it
Caves are an hostile habitat to biota: do not support plant
life and few animal species are adapted to live inside. Very
little investigation has been devoted to fungal ecology of
caverns and it is believed that no species is peculiar of this
habitat. Micromycetes present in an Italian carsic
showcave, situated at Toirano (SV), have been studied.
Sixteen sites were sampled in a distance of about 400
metres from the entrance. Air sampling was carried out by
settle plate technique and by surface air sampler (ParTrap
Fa 52); soil analysis by hair baiting technique. Statistical
analysis of the results, involving chi-square, has been
performed. A total of 76 species, belonging to 47 genera,
was recorded. Alternaria alternata, Aureobasidium
pullulans var. pullulans, Cladosporium cladosporioides, C.
herbarum, Penicillium brevicompactum, Trichophyton
terrestre and Simplicillium lamellicola (abundant because
it is involved in the process of stalactite growth), were
dominants. Among the sporadic species, should be noticed
Conidiobolus coronatus, mostly saprotrophic but also
insect parasite and causal agent of nasal granuloma in man.
Comparison between the number of species and the
different methodological techniques used results
statistically significant. In conclusion, mycoflora in a cave
can be rather diversified; that can be mainly due to the
atmospheric circulation and the presence of animals or
their debris.
576 - Chemotaxonomic groups in species of Phyllosticta
based on the cell wall polysaccharides
R. Senthil Kumaran * & J. Muthumary
Centre for Advanced Studies in Botany, University of
Madras, Guindy Campus, Chennai - 600 025, India, India.
- E-mail: sendil75@yahoo.com
Phyllosticta is a Coelomycetous fungus producing
pycnidial fruit bodies and causing leaf spot diseases in
plants. It is a dimorph fungus having both perfect and
imperfect states in their life cycle. Studies on the various
species of Phyllosticta were collected from South India has
been taken with a view to build up a genetic resources
collection in our centre. For this purpose, fungal collections
were made from various places in and around Tamilnadu,
South India. So far more than 50 different species of
Phyllosticta were collected and 30 of them were
successfully grown in culture. In the case of Phyllosticta,
identification of species is merely based upon the host
specificity. But it is worthwhile to study the composition of
cell wall polysaccharides along with the combination of
morphological characters make an advantage in identifying
the higher taxa at species level. In the present study cell
wall Polysaccharides have been proved as
chemotaxonomic markers used in the determination of
natural groupings in species of Phyllosticta. In order to find
out the chemical composition and structures of
polysaccharides (alkali extractable & water-soluble) of cell
wall and culture filtrate of the fungi were carried out with
the above isolates. The inter specific relationship of
different species of Phyllosticta was compared for the
species studied based on the polysaccharide type of the cell
wall. The results and significance of the findings are
discussed in detail.
577 - Mycorrhizal and ethanopharmacological value of
some threatened orchid species of Shevaroy's, S. India
S. Senthilkumar
Dept. of Botany, St. Joseph's College (Autonomous),
Tiruchirappalli-620 002, India. - E-mail:
sen_kumar66@yahoo.co.uk
Orchid mycorrhizas are symbiotic organisms, which
establish an obligate symbiotic association with the roots of
orchids. The orchid mycorrhizas represent the most
widespread and the large majority of orchids must have
evolved with compatibility system towards the fungal
symbionts. In India, more than 2000 species of orchids
have so far been reported in which mostly belong to
epiphytic form received poor considerations than terrestrial
form. All the threatened species of orchid under study
penetrated an intracellular fungus called pelotons. The
fungal hyphae may traverse various layers of velamen
before entering into passage cells. From velamen itself the
hyphae forming pelotons followed by exodermal cells and
finally it reaches the interior cortex. Different
histochemical, histoenzymological and fluorescent
techniques were applied on peloton of the species viz.
Bulbophyllum kaintense (Weight) Reichb.F., Coelogyne
nervosa A.Rich and Gastrochillus acaulis (Lindley) Kuntz.
However, antibacterial activity of organic and aquous
extracts (leaf, root) of the former was carried out against
different bacterial strains. From this study we can conclude
that these threatened orchid species showed high
antibacterial activity against the tested bacteria. These
findings strongly imply that the involved orchid species is a
major source for different ailments. Supported by:
Department of Science and Technology, Government of
India, No:SR/FTP/LS-217/2000.
Book of Abstracts 175