Coprophilous and cellulolytic fungi

Rare type of fungi- Not much resource available online

1. COPROPHILOUS AND CELLULOLYTIC FUNGI Guided by: Dr Kumananda Tayung Presented By- Tridip Boruah MSc 1 st semester Roll no: 37 Department of Botany Gauhati University

2. What are fungi? Fungi are chlorophyll-less thallophytes having heterotrophic, eukaryotic and spore bearing organisms surrounded by a well defined cell wall made up of chitin, with or without fungal cellulose along with many other complex organic molecules. From the point of view of their nutrition the fungi may be classified as- Saprophytes Parasites Symbionts Predacious fungi

3. Coprophilous fungi Definition : Coprophilous fungi are a type of saprophytic fungi that grow on animal dung. They include representative of all the four classes of fungi. Certain genera have a high proportion of of coprophilous representative and some genera (eg: Ascobolus , Podospora ) are more or less exclusively coprophilous.

4. Historical background First reference of a coprophilous fungi is known, in the form of a record Pilobolus on horse dung in “Historia Plantarum”, by Johannes Bannister from Virginia in 1688. Thus, the knowledge on fungal association with dung was known to the botanists since the 17 th century. However, systematic work on these fungi began towards the end of the 19 th century. Some pioneers of this branch of fungi are Zopf (1874), Bainier (1882), Van Tieghem (1875),

5. Distribution: The distribution of coprophilous fungi is closely linked to the distribution of the herbivores on which they rely such as Rabbits, Deer, Cattle, Horses and Sheep . Some species rely on a specific species for dung, e.g: Coprinus radiatus and panaeolus campanulatus grow exclusively on horse feaces Fungi belonging to genera Coprinopsis , Panaeolus and Deconica produce mushrooms. e.g: Conocybe rickenii, Psilocybe cubensis, Deconica coprophila etc.

6. Some coprophilous fungi Bolbitius vitellinus Pilobolus orangia Conocybe rickenii Crucibulum laeve Psilocybe cubensis Panaeolus papilionaceous

7. Life cycle Coprophilous fungi release their spore to the surrounding vegetation, which is then eaten by herbivores. The spores then remain in the animal as the plants are digested, pass through the animal intestines and finally defected. The fruiting bodies of the fungi then grow on the animal feces. It is essential that the spores of the species reaches new plant material, spores remaining in the feces will produce nothing

8. About the spore The animal feaces provide an environment rich in nitrogenous material, which has been largely sterilized by the high temperature, as well as the enzymes in the animal’s digestive system. The spores themselves survive digestion by being particularly thick walled, allowing them to germinate in the dung with minimum competition from other organisms

9. Application of Coprophilous fungi Antifungal agents Food industry Bioremediation Production of Organic acids Isolation of secondary metabolites Alcohol production

10. CELLULOLYTIC FUNGI

11. Introduction: Some fungi possess an efficient hydrolytic system capable to convert lignocellulosic material to essential metabolites for growth. These are called Cellulolytic fungi. Usually, these fungi secret enzymes, including cellulases, hemicellulases, and β - glycosidases . By 1976, more than 14000 fungi active against cellulose and other insoluble fibres had been identified

12. Diversity & Isolation: Fifty two fungal isolates with cellulolytic activities were isolated on Czapex ’ dox with a filter paper and CMC agar media. The cellulase system of the mesophilic fungi Trichoderma reesei and Phanerochaete chrysosporium are most thoroughly studied. The production of cellulase by the members of genus Fusarium , Aspergillus , Trichoderma were investigated by several workers

13. Trichoderma reesei Phanerochaete chrysosporium Aspergillus terreus Aspergillus   fumigatus

14. Mechanism of cellulolytic activity : Fungi excrete a complex array of related enzymes for degradation of cellulose. The enzymes tend to be present in multiple forms, based on a single genetic sequence , and include a range of isoenzymes, which arise for different genetic sequences. The consequence is that enzyme groups function synergistically for rapidly and completely break down cellulose

15. APPLICATION In pulp and paper Enzymatic deinking Textile industry Enhancing the feeding value of agro-industrial bye-products Detergent s Starch conversion

16. CONCLUSION Both Coprophilous and Cellulolytic fungi has a wide range of application. Many genera of these fungi are still unexplored and research are going on to find out new possibilities. Looking at the present Pharmaceutical and industrial products extracted from these fungi, it is an encouraging sign for carrying out more researches in this field

17. THANK YOU