Penicillium

Genus Penicillium ( Penicillium) belongs to the order Hyphomycetes ( Hyphomycetales) from the class of imperfect fungi ( Deuteromycota). The natural habitat of these fungi is soil; they are often found on a variety of substrates, mainly plant origin.

Back in the XV-XVI centuries. V folk medicine Green mold was used in the treatment of purulent wounds. In 1928, English microbiologist Alexander Fleming noticed that penicillium, accidentally introduced into a staphylococcus culture, completely suppressed the growth of bacteria. These observations by Fleming formed the basis for the doctrine of antibiosis (antagonism between certain types of microorganisms). L. Pasteur, I.I. played a significant role in the development of research on microbial antagonism. Mechnikov.

The antimicrobial effect of green mold is due to a special substance - penicillin, released by this fungus into the environment. In 1940, penicillin was obtained in pure form by English researchers G. Flory and E. Cheyne, and in 1942, independently of them, by Soviet scientists Z.V. Ermolyeva and T.I. Balezina. During World War II, penicillin saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of wounded people. The demand for penicillin was so great that its production increased from a few million units in 1942 to 700 billion units in 1945.

Penicillin is used for pneumonia, sepsis, pustular skin diseases, sore throat, scarlet fever, diphtheria, rheumatism, syphilis, gonorrhea and other diseases caused by gram-positive bacteria.

The discovery of penicillin marked the beginning of the search for new antibiotics and sources of their production. With the discovery of antibiotics, it became possible to successfully treat almost all infectious diseases caused by microbes.

But green molds are successfully used not only in medicine. Penicillium species are of great importance P.roqueforti. In nature, they live in the soil. We are well familiar with them from the group of cheeses characterized by “marbling”: “Roquefort”, whose homeland is France, “Gorgonzola” cheese from Northern Italy, “Stilon” cheese from England, etc. All these cheeses are characterized by a loose structure, a specific “mouldy” » appearance (veins and spots of bluish-green color) and characteristic aroma. P.roqueforti needs little oxygen, tolerates high concentrations of carbon dioxide.

When preparing soft French cheeses"Camembert", "Brie" and some others are used P.camberti And P.caseicolum, which form a characteristic white “felt” coating on the surface of the cheese. under the influence of the enzymes of these fungi, the cheese acquires juiciness, oiliness, specific taste and aroma.

Aspergillus

Aspergillus, like penicillium, belongs to the class of imperfect fungi. Their natural habitat is the upper soil horizons, especially in southern latitudes, where they are most often found on various substrates, mainly of plant origin. Most representatives of this genus are saprophytes, but there are also conditional pathogens of humans and animals, which, for example, can cause diseases such as aspergillosis in people with weakened immune systems.
Mushroom species A.flavus And A.oryzae - the main components of the community of molds that develop on grains and seeds, mainly on rice, peas, soybeans, and peanuts. They produce enzymes: amylases, lipases, proteinases, pectinases, cellulases, etc. That is why A.oryzae and related species have been used in the East for food purposes for many centuries. The alcohol industry of Japan and other Eastern countries, in which the production of sake rice vodka first requires saccharification of rice starch, is entirely based on the enzymatic properties of mushrooms of this group. Traditional soy sauce“Seyu”, soy-rice sauce “Tuong” (Vietnam), soup dressing based on soybeans “Miso” (Japan, China, Philippines) and other food products are made using Aspergillus.
The ability to A.niger and other species of this group to the formation of citric, oxalic, gluconic, fumaric acids. In addition to the organic acids of Aspergillus, and in particular A.niger, are capable of synthesizing vitamins: biotin, thiamine, riboflavin, etc. This property is used industrially.

Table 1. Properties of mushrooms

Predator mushroom found in a piece of amber

Amber captures how an ancient predatory fungus ringed a nematode worm, possibly with the intention of eating it

German scientists from the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, led by Alexander Schmidt, discovered a piece of amber in a quarry in southwestern France, which presumably preserved a predatory fungus about 100 million years old and the remains of nematodes.

The find broke the previous record: the predatory mushroom found then was only 15-20 million years old. But this was not the only thing that surprised the researchers. Typically, predatory fungi live in the soil, and they have a very small chance of being “frozen” in amber (which is originally tree resin). Now scientists hope that this specimen will shed some light on how these strange creatures evolved.

Modern predatory fungi often trap very small nematode worms that feed on their surfaces in their sticky “nets” and rings (which work like a lasso). When the worm dies, the fungal tissues grow into it and digest it.

So far, scientists do not know how carnivorous mushrooms have changed throughout their history, and it is almost impossible to study this. Mushrooms lack a skeleton or shell, so when they die, nothing remains. That is why this find is so important for researchers.

Since the found mushroom has the same loops as modern representatives (about 10 micrometers in diameter), biologists conclude that similar feeding behavior was characteristic of ancient representatives of predatory fungi.

Predatory mushrooms at your service

Have you ever come across a toothy boletus in the forest? Have you seen an oiler armed with sharp claws?

No? Then everything is correct. Forest mushrooms are a peaceful people. Even the handsome fly agaric, which enjoys a bad reputation, is not going to attack anyone. He stands in a forest clearing, waiting for animals. They say moose love him very much. And scary death cap She herself is scared to death, tries to stay away from people, and lurks in the forest thicket. And it’s not her fault, but the trouble is that she looks a little like a champignon.

And yet they exist, these strange predatory mushrooms, so unlike the gifts of the forest familiar to everyone.

First, a graceful worm appeared on the screen. Magnified many times over by filming, he swam freely in the solution, bending, willingly posing. But some strange threads appeared in the corner of the frame. They slowly but surely crawled towards the worm. The threads gave off shoots and turned into hooks and loops. Now a whole network has grown around the worm. He is still trying to free himself, struggling desperately, but the rings and loops are compressing ever tighter. End.

Thus, almost like a horror film, Doctor of Biological Sciences Nissa Ashrafovna Mehdieva began her report on predatory mushrooms at the All-Union Conference “Ways to Improve Microbiological Control of Harmful Insects and Plant Diseases.”

VINEGAR AND OTHERS

The heroine of the film, the vinegar eel, is a harmless creature. It lives in fermented vinegar and doesn’t bother anyone. Researchers like to use it as a model organism for various experiments. To do this, just drop a little vinegar into the starch paste. But not so are its many brothers and sisters in the class of nematodes, or roundworms.

I want to be understood correctly. I am not at all going to cast a shadow on this entire class, which in terms of the number of individuals is the most numerous in the animal kingdom and second only to the class of insects in terms of the number of species. Many of its representatives work honestly in remote corners of the Earth, sometimes in very difficult conditions, making an invaluable contribution to the cycle of substances in nature. These are worthy, respected inhabitants of water and land. Especially many nematodes live in the soil.

Let's take phytonematodes living in plant tissues. Previously, potato and beet crop failures after several years of monoculture were attributed to “soil fatigue.” It was only in our century that it was discovered that nematodes were to blame. The annual loss of world agricultural products from them is about 12%. In monetary terms for 20 major crops, this is $77 billion. And don’t think that such a problem is only in developing countries with backward agricultural technology. Thus, in the USA, plant nematodes cause an annual loss of 5-8 billion dollars. And therefore, now, compared to 1967, the cost of studying phytonematodes has increased eightfold in the United States.

These tiny worms cause damage in fields, vegetable gardens and greenhouses. For example, cucumbers and tomatoes are tormented by so-called root-knot nematodes, which form swellings on the roots.

ETERNAL FIGHT

To combat nematodes in greenhouses, the soil is steamed and a pesticide is added - some kind of nematicide, for example dazomet or heterophos. We only allow one nematicide for retail sale to the public - thiazone 40%. It is recommended to apply it evenly into the soil (mixing it thoroughly to the depth of the arable layer). If there is a strong infestation of root-knot nematodes, it is necessary to change all the soil in the greenhouse.

To get rid of nematodes in the fields, farmers have long used crop rotation. For example, after 5-7 years of potato mono-culture, lupine or other legumes are grown. It has also been noted that nematodes are repelled by certain plants, such as radishes and marigolds.

However, these measures do not provide complete improvement of the soil.

There is more hope for breeders, for resistant varieties. Since the sixties in different countries Many nematode-resistant potato varieties have been developed. Alas, often their tubers turn out to be tasteless not only for nematodes, but also for us. This happened, for example, with the Meta variety, bred by the Lithuanian Research Institute of Agriculture together with the All-Union Research Institute of Helminthology named after. K.I. Scriabin. Zoned in Lithuania, Belarus and several regions of the RSFSR, it does not find sales due to its low taste.

Genetic engineering has also joined the fight against nematodes. Last summer, two American firms, Mycogen and Monsanto, signed an agreement to introduce the gene responsible for the production of the toxin from the bacterium Bacillus turyngiensis into soybean, cotton, tomato and potato plants. This toxin kills plant nematodes. It is believed that plants will protect themselves in this way.

Why is the fight against nematodes so difficult?

The fact is that over many centuries of evolution, nematodes have forged a very serious weapon - the ability to form cysts. A cyst is an old female filled with larvae. A kind of leather bag. Thanks to its durable shell, the cyst calmly endures all adversities - steaming and chemical soil treatments. The cyst can be stored in the ground for decades. And the time will come - the larvae will come out of it and get to work on their own. But let's return to predatory mushrooms.

THIRD KINGDOM

Carl Linnaeus, the creator of the taxonomy of living things, classified fungi as part of the plant kingdom. He had good reasons for this. Like plants, fungal cells are surrounded by a cell membrane, and, Linnaeus believed, fungi, unlike animals, are incapable of active movement.

However, today experts distinguish mushrooms into a separate third kingdom, distinct from plants and animals. The number of species in it is enormous. Many of them are hostile towards people: they cause human illness. They are not kind to animals and plants; they spoil food, wood, textiles and other materials. But among the mushrooms there are those whom we can rightfully call friends. Among them are the heroes of my story. The English scientist K. L. Duddington entitled his book about them: “Predatory mushrooms are friends of man.”

They have appeared in science not so long ago, since the sixties of the last century. It was then that the famous Russian mycologist and phytopathologist, specialist in fungi and plant diseases, Mikhail Stepanovich Voronin, examined the soil fungus Arthr under a microscope o botrys oligospora, carefully described and sketched never-before-seen hooks, loops and rings that form in abundance on the threads and spores of the fungus. Alas, their purpose remained a mystery for many years.

Only in the 80s of the same 19th century, Wilhelm Zopf, a professor at the University of Halle, established that strange formations were nothing more than hunting tools! Hunting loops, rings and hooks are needed by predatory mushrooms in order to hunt nematodes that are superior in strength and size.

In the entire history of mankind, there was no medicine that could save as many people from death as penicillin. It gets its name from its progenitor, the Penicillium mold, which floats in the air in the form of spores. We tell you what happened in Fleming's laboratory and how events developed further.

Homeland - England

Humanity owes the discovery of penicillin to the Scottish biochemist Alexander Fleming. Although, of course, it was natural that Fleming came across the properties of mold. He went to this discovery for years.

During the First World War, Fleming served as a military doctor and could not come to terms with the fact that the wounded, after a successful operation, still died - from the onset of gangrene or sepsis. Fleming began to look for a way to prevent such injustice.

In 1918, Fleming returned to London to the bacteriological laboratory of St. Mary's Hospital, where he worked from 1906 until his death. In 1922 the first success came, extremely similar to the story that led to the discovery of penicillin six years later.

A cold Fleming, who had just placed another culture of Micrococcus lysodeicticus bacteria in the so-called Petri dish - a wide glass cylinder with low walls and a lid - suddenly sneezed. A few days later he opened this cup and found that in some places the bacteria had died. Apparently - in those where mucus got from his nose when he sneezed.

Fleming started checking. And as a result, lysozyme was discovered - a natural enzyme in the mucus of humans, animals and, as it later turned out, some plants. It destroys the walls of bacteria and dissolves them, but is harmless to healthy tissues. It is no coincidence that dogs lick their wounds - by doing this they reduce the risk of inflammation.

After each experiment, the Petri dishes had to be sterilized. Fleming did not have the habit of throwing away cultures and washing laboratory glassware immediately after an experiment. Usually he was engaged in this unpleasant work when two or three dozen cups accumulated on the work table. He first examined the cups.

“As soon as you open the culture cup, you're in trouble,” Fleming recalled. “Something will definitely come out of the air.” And one day, when he was researching influenza, mold was discovered in one of the Petri dishes, which, to the scientist’s surprise, dissolved the sown culture - colonies of Staphylococcus aureus, and instead of a yellow cloudy mass, drops similar to dew were visible.

To test his hypothesis about the bactericidal effect of the mold, Fleming transferred several spores from his dish to a nutrient broth in a flask and left them to germinate at room temperature.

The surface was covered with a thick felt corrugated mass. It was originally white, then turned green and finally turned black. At first the broth remained clear. After a few days, it acquired a very intense yellow color, having produced some special substance that Fleming was unable to obtain in its pure form, since it turned out to be very unstable. Fleming called the yellow substance secreted by the fungus penicillin.

It turned out that even when diluted 500-800 times, the culture liquid suppressed the growth of staphylococci and some other bacteria. Thus, an exceptionally strong antagonistic effect of this type of fungus on certain bacteria has been proven.

It was found that penicillin suppressed, to a greater or lesser extent, the growth of not only staphylococci, but also streptococci, pneumococci, gonococci, diphtheria bacilli and bacilli anthrax, but had no effect on E. coli, typhoid bacilli and pathogens of influenza, paratyphoid fever, and cholera. An extremely important discovery was the absence of a harmful effect of penicillin on human leukocytes, even in doses many times higher than the dose harmful to staphylococci. This meant that penicillin was harmless to people.

Production - America

The next step was taken in 1938 by Oxford University professor, pathologist and biochemist Howard Florey, who recruited Ernst Boris Chain to collaborate. Cheyne got higher education in chemistry in Germany. When the Nazis came to power, Cheyne, being a Jew and a supporter of leftist views, emigrated to England.

Ernst Chain continued Fleming's research. He was able to obtain crude penicillin in quantities sufficient for the first biological tests, first on animals and then in the clinic. After a year of painful experiments to isolate and purify the product of capricious mushrooms, the first 100 mg of pure penicillin was obtained. The first patient (a policeman with blood poisoning) could not be saved - the accumulated supply of penicillin was not enough. The antibiotic was quickly excreted by the kidneys.

Chain involved other specialists in the work: bacteriologists, chemists, doctors. The so-called Oxford Group was formed.

By this time the Second World War. In the summer of 1940, the danger of invasion loomed over Great Britain. The Oxford group decides to hide the mold spores by soaking the linings of their jackets and pockets in broth. Chain said: “If they kill me, the first thing you do is grab my jacket.” In 1941, for the first time in history, a person with blood poisoning was saved from death - he was a 15-year-old teenager.

However, in warring England it was not possible to establish mass production of penicillin. In the summer of 1941, the leader of the group, pharmacologist Howard Flory, went to improve the technology in the USA. Using American corn extract, the yield of penicillin increased 20 times. Then they decided to look for new strains of mold, more productive than Penicillium notatum, which once flew through Fleming’s window. Mold samples from all over the world began to be sent to the American laboratory. They hired a girl, Mary Hunt, who bought all the moldy food at the market. And one day, Moldy Mary brings a rotten melon from the market, in which they find a productive strain of P. chrysogenum.

By this time, Flory had managed to convince the American government and industrialists of the need to produce the first antibiotic. In 1943, industrial production of penicillin began for the first time. Technology mass production penicillin, which immediately received a second name - “the medicine of the century”, was transferred to Pfizer and Merck. In 1945, the production of pharmacopoeial high activity penicillin was 15 tons per year, in 1950 - 195 tons.

In 1941, the USSR received secret information that a powerful antimicrobial drug was being created in England based on some type of fungus of the genus Penicillium. The Soviet Union began immediately to work in this direction, and already in 1942, the Soviet microbiologist Zinaida Ermolyeva obtained penicillin from the mold Penicillium Crustosum, taken from the wall of one of the bomb shelters in Moscow. In 1944, Ermolyeva, after much observation and research, decided to test her drug on the wounded. Her penicillin became a miracle for field doctors and a life-saving chance for many wounded soldiers.

Undoubtedly, Ermolyeva’s discovery and work are no less significant than the work of Flory and Cheyne. They saved many lives and made it possible to produce penicillin, which was so necessary for the front. However, the Soviet drug was obtained by handicraft in quantities that were completely inconsistent with the needs of domestic healthcare.

In 1947, a semi-factory installation was created at the All-Union Scientific Research Chemical and Pharmaceutical Institute (VNIHFI). This technology on an enlarged scale formed the basis of the first penicillin factories built in Moscow and Riga. This produced a yellow amorphous product of low activity, which also caused an increase in temperature in patients. At the same time, penicillin coming from abroad did not produce side effects.

The USSR could not buy technologies for the industrial production of penicillin: in the USA there was a ban on the sale of any technologies related to it. However, Ernst Chain, the author and owner of the English patent for obtaining penicillin of the required quality, offered his help Soviet Union. In September 1948, a commission of Soviet scientists, having completed their work, returned to their homeland. The results were formalized in the form of industrial regulations and successfully introduced into production at one of the Moscow factories.

At the award ceremony Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine, which Fleming, Florey and Chain received in 1945 for the discovery of penicillin and its therapeutic effect, Fleming said: “They say I invented penicillin. But no man could invent it, because this substance is created by nature. I didn’t invent penicillin, I just drew people’s attention to it and gave it a name.”

Comment on the article "Penicillin: how Fleming's discovery turned into an antibiotic"

And now, many years later, penicillins are produced in various forms and combinations and are used to treat bacterial infections in pregnant women, which is very important. There is nowhere in the modern world without antibiotics.

Total 1 message .

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Penicillium rightfully takes first place in distribution among hyphomycetes. Their natural reservoir is the soil, and they, being cosmopolitan in most species, unlike Aspergillus, are more confined to the soils of northern latitudes.

Like Aspergillus, they are most often found in the form of mold deposits, consisting mainly of conidiophores with conidia, on a wide variety of substrates, mainly of plant origin.

Members of this genus were discovered at the same time as Aspergillus due to their generally similar ecology, wide distribution, and morphological similarity.

The mycelium of penicillium does not differ in general terms from the mycelium of aspergillus. It is colorless, multicellular, branching. The main difference between these two closely related genera is the structure of the conidial apparatus. In penicillids it is more diverse and consists of a brush of varying degrees of complexity in the upper part (hence its synonym “tassel”). Based on the structure of the tassel and some other characters (morphological and cultural), sections, subsections and series were established within the genus.

The simplest conidiophores in Penicillium bear at the upper end only a bundle of phialides, forming chains of conidia that develop basipetally, as in Aspergillus. Such conidiophores are called monoverticillate or monoverticillate (section Monoverticillata, Fig. 231). A more complex brush consists of metulae, i.e., more or less long cells located at the top of the conidiophore, and on each of them there is a bundle, or whorl, of phialids. In this case, the metulae can be either in the form of a symmetrical bunch (Fig. 231), or in a small amount, and then one of them seems to continue the main axis of the conidiophore, while the others are not symmetrically located on it (Fig. 231). In the first case they are called symmetrical (section Biverticillata-symmetrica), in the second - asymmetrical (section Aeumetrica). Asymmetrical conidiophores may have even more complex structure

: the brooms then extend from the so-called twigs (Fig. 231). And finally, in a few species, both twigs and brooms can be arranged not in one “floor”, but in two, three or more. Then the brush turns out to be multi-storeyed, or multi-whorled (section Polyverticillata). In some species, conidiophores are united into bundles - coremia, especially well developed in the subsection Asymmetrica-Fasciculata. When koremias are dominant in a colony, they can be seen with the naked eye. Sometimes they are 1 cm or more in height. If the colonies are weakly expressed, then it has a powdery or granular surface, most often in the marginal zone.

Details of the structure of conidiophores (smooth or spiny, colorless or colored), the sizes of their parts can be different in different series and in different species, as well as the shape, structure of the shell and size of mature conidia (Table 56).

Just like Aspergillus, some Penicillium have higher sporulation - marsupial (sexual). Bursae also develop in cleistothecia, similar to cleistothecia of Aspergillus. These fruiting bodies were first depicted in the work of O. Brefeld (1874). It is interesting that in penicillium there is the same pattern that is noted for aspergillus, namely: what conidiiferous apparatus (tassels), the more species we find cleistothecia. Thus, they are most often found in sections Monoverticillata and Biverticillata-Symmetrica. The more complex the brush, the fewer species with cleistothecia are found in this group. Thus, in the subsection Asymmetrica-Fasciculata, characterized by particularly powerful conidiophores united in coremia, there is not a single species with cleitothecium. From this we can conclude that the evolution of penicillium went in the direction of complication of the conidial apparatus, increasing production of conidia and extinction of sexual reproduction. Some thoughts can be expressed on this matter. Since penicillium, like aspergillus, has heterokaryosis and a parasexual cycle, these features represent the basis on which new forms can arise that adapt to different environmental conditions and are capable of conquering new living spaces for individuals of the species and ensuring its prosperity . In combination with the huge number of conidia that arise on a complex conidiophore (it is measured in tens of thousands), while in the bags and in the nleistothecia in general the number of spores is disproportionately smaller, the total production of these new forms can be very large. Thus, the presence of a parasexual cycle and efficient formation of conidia essentially provides fungi with the benefit that the sexual process provides to other organisms compared to asexual or vegetative reproduction.

In the colonies of many penicilliums, like aspergillus, there are sclerotia, which apparently serve to withstand unfavorable conditions.

Thus, in the morphology, ontogenesis and other features of Aspergillus and Penicillium there is a lot in common, which suggests their phylogenetic proximity. Some penicilliums from the section Monoverticillata have a greatly expanded apex of the conidiophore, reminiscent of the swelling of the conidiophore of Aspergillus, and, like Aspergillus, are found more often in southern latitudes. Therefore, one can imagine the relationship between these two genera and the evolution within these genera as follows:

Attention to penicillium increased when their ability to form the antibiotic penicillin was first discovered. Then scientists from a wide variety of specialties became involved in the study of penicillins: bacteriologists, pharmacologists, physicians, chemists, etc. This is quite understandable, since the discovery of penicillin was one of the outstanding events not only in biology, but also in a number of other fields, especially in medicine , veterinary medicine, phytopathology, where antibiotics were then found wide application. Penicillin was the first antibiotic discovered. The widespread recognition and use of penicillin played a big role in science, as it accelerated the discovery and introduction of other antibiotic substances into medical practice.

The medicinal properties of molds formed by penicillium colonies were first noted by Russian scientists V. A. Manassein and A. G. Polotebnov back in the 70s of the last century. They used these molds to treat skin diseases and syphilis.

In 1928 in England, Professor A. Fleming drew attention to one of the dishes with a nutrient medium on which the staphylococcus bacterium was sown. The colony of bacteria stopped growing under the influence of blue-green mold that came from the air and developed in the same cup. Fleming isolated the fungus in pure culture (it turned out to be Penicillium notatum) and demonstrated its ability to produce a bacteriostatic substance, which he called penicillin. Fleming recommended the use of this substance and noted that it could be used in medicine. However, the significance of penicillin became fully apparent only in 1941. Flory, Chain and others described methods for obtaining and purifying penicillin and the results of the first clinical trials of this drug. After this, a program of further research was outlined, which included the search for more suitable media and methods for cultivating fungi and obtaining more productive strains. It can be considered that it was with work to increase the productivity of penicillium that the history of scientific selection of microorganisms began.

Back in 1942-1943. It was found that some strains of another species, P., also have the ability to produce large amounts of penicillin. chrysogenum (Table 57). Active strains were isolated in the USSR in 1942 by Professor Z. V. Ermolyeva and her colleagues. Many productive strains have been isolated abroad.

Initially, penicillin was obtained using strains isolated from various natural sources. These strains were P. notaturn and P. chrysogenum. Then isolates that gave a higher yield of penicillin were selected, first under surface culture conditions and then under submerged culture in special fermentation tanks. Mutant Q-176 was obtained, characterized by even higher productivity, which was used for the industrial production of penicillin. Subsequently, based on this strain, even more active variants were selected. Work to obtain active strains is ongoing. Highly productive strains are obtained mainly using potent factors (X-ray and ultra-violet rays, chemical mutagens).

The medicinal properties of penicillin are very diverse. It acts on pyogenic cocci, gonococci, anaerobic bacteria that cause gas gangrene, in cases of various abscesses, carbuncles, wound infections, osteomyelitis, meningitis, peritonitis, endocarditis and makes it possible to save the lives of patients when other therapeutic drugs (in particular, sulfa drugs) are powerless .

In 1946, it was possible to synthesize penicillin, which was identical to natural, biologically obtained. However, the modern penicillin industry is based on biosynthesis, since it makes it possible to mass produce a cheap drug.

Of the section Monoverticillata, whose representatives are more common in more southern regions, the most common is Penicillium frequentans. It forms widely growing velvety green colonies with a reddish-brown reverse side on the nutrient medium. Chains of conidia on one conidiophore are usually connected into long columns, clearly visible at low microscope magnification. P. frequentans produces the enzymes pectinase, used to clarify fruit juices, and proteinase. At low acidity of the environment, this fungus, like the closely related P. spinulosum, produces gluconic acid, and at higher acidity, citric acid.

P. thomii (Tables 56, 57) is usually distinguished from forest soils and litter of mainly coniferous forests in different parts of the world, easily distinguishable from other penicilliums of the section Monoverticillata by the presence of pink sclerotia. Strains of this species are highly active in destroying tannin, and they also form penicillic acid, an antibiotic that acts on gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, mycobacteria, actinomycetes, and some plants and animals.

,

Many species from the same section Monoverticillata have been isolated from military equipment, optical instruments and other materials in subtropical and tropical environments.

Since 1940, in Asian countries, especially Japan and China, a serious human illness called yellow rice poisoning has been known. It is characterized by severe damage to the central nervous system, motor nerves, disorders of the cardiovascular system and respiratory system. The cause of the disease turned out to be the fungus P. citreo-viride, which produces the toxin citreoviridin. In this regard, it was suggested that when people become ill with beriberi, along with vitamin deficiency, acute mycotoxicosis also occurs.

Representatives of the Biverticillata-symmetrica section are no less important. They are isolated from various soils, from plant substrates and industrial products in subtropical and tropical conditions.

Many of the fungi of this section are distinguished by brightly colored colonies and secrete pigments that diffuse into the environment and color it. When these fungi develop on paper and paper products, books, objects of art, awnings, and car upholstery, colored spots form. One of the main mushrooms on paper and books is P. purpurogenum. Its widely growing, velvety yellowish-green colonies are framed by a yellow border of growing mycelium, and the reverse side of the colony is purple-red in color. The red pigment is also released into the environment.

Representatives of the section Asymmetrica are especially widespread and important among penicilliums.

We have already mentioned above the producers of penicillin - P. chrysogenum and P. notatum. They are found in soil and on various organic substrates. Macroscopically, their colonies are similar. They are green in color, and they, like all species of the P. chrysogenum series, are characterized by the release of exudate on the surface of the colony yellow color and the same pigment into the medium (Table 57).

It can be added that both of these species, together with penicillin, often form ergosterol.

Very great importance have penicilliums from the P. roqueforti series. They live in the soil, but predominate in the group of cheeses characterized by “marbling”. This is Roquefort cheese, which originates in France; Gorgonzola cheese from Northern Italy, Stiltosh cheese from England, etc. All these cheeses are characterized by a loose structure, a specific appearance (veins and spots of bluish-green color) and a characteristic aroma. The fact is that the corresponding mushroom cultures are used at a certain point in the cheese making process. P. roqueforti and related species are able to grow in loosely compressed cottage cheese because they tolerate low oxygen content well (the mixture of gases formed in the voids of the cheese contains less than 5%). In addition, they are resistant to high salt concentrations in an acidic environment and form lipolytic and proteolytic enzymes that affect the fatty and protein components of milk. Currently, selected strains of mushrooms are used in the manufacturing process of these cheeses.

From soft French cheeses - Camembert, Brie, etc. - P. camamberti and P. caseicolum were isolated. Both of these species have been so adapted to their specific substrate for so long that they are almost indistinguishable from other sources. In the final stage of making Camembert or Brie cheeses curd mass placed for ripening in a special chamber with a temperature of 13-14 ° C and a humidity of 55-60%, the air of which contains spores of the corresponding fungi. Within a week, the entire surface of the cheese is covered with a fluffy white coating of mold 1-2 mm thick. Within about ten days, the mold becomes bluish or greenish-gray in the case of P. camamberti development, or remains white in the case of predominantly P. caseicolum development. Under the influence of fungal enzymes, the mass of cheese acquires juiciness, oiliness, specific taste and aroma.

P. digitatum produces ethylene, which causes healthy citrus fruits in the vicinity of fruits affected by this fungus to ripen more quickly.

P. italicum is a blue-green mold that causes soft rot of citrus fruit. This fungus attacks oranges and grapefruits more often than lemons, while P. digitatum grows equally well on lemons, oranges and grapefruits. With intensive development of P. italicum, the fruits quickly lose their shape and become covered with mucus spots.

Conidiophores of P. italicum are often united in a coremia, and then the mold coating becomes granular. Both mushrooms have a pleasant aromatic smell.

P. expansum is often found in soil and on various substrates (grain, bread, industrial products, etc.) (Table 58). But it is especially known as the cause of rapidly developing soft brown rot of apples. Losses of apples from this mushroom during storage are sometimes 85-90%. Conidiophores of this species also form koremia. Masses of its spores present in the air can cause allergic diseases.

Some types of coremic penicillium cause great harm to floriculture. R. cormutbiferum is isolated from the bulbs of tulips in Holland, hyacinths and daffodils in Denmark. The pathogenicity of P. gladioli for gladioli bulbs and, apparently, for other plants with bulbs or fleshy roots has also been established.

Penicillium from the P. cyclopium series is of great importance among coremial fungi. They are widely distributed in soil and on organic substrates, often isolated from grains and grain products, from industrial products in different areas of the globe and are characterized by high and varied activity.

P. cyclopium (Fig. 232) is one of the most powerful toxin-formers in the soil.

Some penicilliums of the section Asymmetrica (P. nigricans) produce the antifungal antibiotic griseofulvin, which has shown good results in the fight against some plant diseases. It can be used to control fungi, causing diseases skin and hair follicles in humans and animals.

Apparently most prosperous in natural conditions turn out to be representatives of the Asymmetrica section. They have a wider ecological amplitude than other penicilliums, tolerate low temperatures better than others (P. puberulum, for example, can form mold deposits on meat in refrigerators) and have a relatively lower oxygen content. Many of them are found in the soil not only in the surface layers, but also at considerable depth, especially coremial forms. For some species, such as P. chrysogenum, very wide temperature limits have been established (from -4 to +33 °C).

Marsupial fungi are a large and diverse group that constitute the division Ascomycota in the kingdom Fungi. The main feature of A. is the formation as a result of karyogamy (fusion of nuclei) and subsequent meiosis of sexual spores (ascospores) in special structures - bags, ... ... Dictionary of microbiology

Deuteromycetes, or imperfect fungi, along with ascomycetes and basidiomycetes, represent one of the largest classes of fungi (about 30% of all known species). This class combines mushrooms with septate mycelium, all life... ... Biological encyclopedia

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penicillin, penicillin series
Penicillium Link, 1809

(lat. Penicillium) is a mold that forms on food products and, as a result, spoils them. Penicillium notatum, one of the species of this genus, is the source of the first ever antibiotic penicillin, invented by Alexander Fleming.

• 1 Discovery of penicillium
• 2 Reproduction and structure of penicillium
• 3 Origin of the term
• 4 See also
• 5 Links

Discovery of penicillium

In 1897, a young military doctor from Lyon named Ernest Duchesne made a “discovery” while observing how Arab stable boys used mold from still damp saddles to treat wounds on the backs of horses rubbed by those same saddles. Duchesne carefully examined the taken mold, identified it as Penicillium glaucum, tested it on guinea pigs to treat typhus and discovered its destructive effect on the bacteria Escherichia coli. This was the first ever clinical trial of what would soon become world-famous penicillin.

The young man presented the results of his research in the form of a doctoral dissertation, insistently proposing to continue work in this area, but the Pasteur Institute in Paris did not even bother to confirm receipt of the document - apparently because Duchenne was only twenty-three years old.

Well-deserved fame came to Duchenne after his death, in 1949, 4 years after Sir Alexander Flemming was awarded the Nobel Prize for the discovery (for the third time) of the antibiotic effect of penicillium.

Reproduction and structure of penicillium

Penicillium's natural habitat is soil. Penicillium can often be seen as a green or blue mold on a variety of substrates, mainly plant ones. The penicillium fungus has a similar structure to aspergillus, which is also a mold fungus. The vegetative mycelium of penicillium is branched, transparent and consists of many cells. The difference between penicillium and mucor is that its mycelium is multicellular, while that of mucor is unicellular. The hyphae of the penicillium fungus are either immersed in the substrate or located on its surface. Erect or ascending conidiophores extend from the hyphae. These formations branch in the upper section and form brushes carrying chains of single-celled colored spores - conidia. Penicillium brushes can be of several types: single-tiered, two-tiered, three-tiered and asymmetrical. In some species of penicillium, conidium conidia form bundles called coreas. Penicillium reproduces using spores.

Origin of the term

The term "penicillium" was coined by Flemming in 1929. By luck, which was the result of a combination of circumstances, the scientist drew attention to the antibacterial properties of mold, which he identified as Penicillium rubrum. As it turned out, Flemming's definition was incorrect. Only many years later did Charles Tom correct his assessment and give the fungus correct name- Penicillum notatum.

This mold was originally called Penicillium because, under a microscope, its spore-bearing legs looked like tiny brushes.

see also

• Penicillium camemberti
• Penicillium funiculosum
• Penicillium roqueforti

Links

penicillamine, penicillin, penicillin gezh yuu ve, penicillin instructions, penicillin history, penicillin discovery, penicillin formula, penicillin series, penicillins 5th generation, penicillins bulgiin

Penicill Information About

Penicillium belongs to the genus of molds, their official name is Penicillum. All species of this genus, for example Penicillium roqueforti, cause mold on organic products or in an environment enriched nutrients and high humidity. In addition, these fungi can cause allergic diseases in humans, causing asthma, bronchitis, lung disease and onychomycosis.

The specific qualities of the fungus are used to make antibiotics and to ferment certain types of cheese during cooking.

Penicilliums are one of the most common fungi, similar in structure to Aspergillus; this genus of fungi is less sensitive to low temperatures, which determines its development and growth in soils of a temperate climate, similar to the domestic one.

Natural habitat of Penicillium spp. - soil where this species reproduces with the help of conidia, which are very developed, unlike Aspergillus. In addition, molds have sclerotia - a kind of reservoir that serves as a shelter capsule for them during an unfavorable period of growth or life.

This type of mold prefers warm and wet soil, a substrate enriched with organic nutrients, for Penicillium these are easily oxidized carbohydrates and nitrogen-containing substances.

Composition of the medium for growth of the Penicillium strain:

• glucose;
• lactose;
• starch;
• sucrose;
• potassium and sodium sulfates.

In laboratory conditions, some strains of the fungus are artificially cultivated using an inorganic medium for biosynthesis.

Benefit

A sudden interest in Penicillium arose at the end of the 19th century with the discovery of the ability of the mold fungus strain Penicillium notatum to kill coccal and some bacterial environments. In addition, the life process of the fungus itself turned out to be, in some way, useful for cheese makers who use the Penicillium roqueforti strain to produce Roquefort cheese, which, thanks to Penicillium, has an exquisite blue mold and a specific taste.

The special property of these mushrooms is to produce gluconic, citric acid, pectin substances, penicillin. In addition to pharmaceuticals, this property is used in Food Industry, in the production of juices, the Penicill enzyme is used to clarify semi-finished products.

Harm

Except positive qualities, fungi of the genus Penicillium also have negative properties, in particular, some strains can cause onycomycosis on human nails and allergic diseases of the respiratory tract.

• Penicillium tardum;
• Penicillium expansum.

1. Penicillium tardum strain - found in residential areas, an allergen that causes the development of respiratory tract diseases.
2. The P. expansum strain is a common pest of grain crops, cereals, and apple mold.

There are other strains that act on food or agricultural crops in a similar way. Some of the most unsafe strains for human health are:

• P. glaucum;
• P. chrysogenum;
• P. funiculosum.

This rule is also true for mycoses that affect the human body - a decrease in the barrier function of the body leads to the occurrence of diseases of both an inflammatory and infectious nature.

Diseases caused by fungi

During the period of colony growth and vital activity, mold fungi release metabolic products and toxic substances. As colony growth increases, the level of toxic impact on the environment increases accordingly.

Mold toxins:

• Patulin;
• Citrinine;
• Ochratoxin;
• Aflatoxin, etc.

Patulin

If ingested, it irritates the gastrointestinal tract, causing vomiting and diarrhea. It has pronounced mutagenic and toxicogenic properties, which means that there is a risk of DNA chain disruption when a certain dose enters the body, with corresponding consequences.

When a small dose of mycotoxin is introduced into the body, no changes are observed, however, the poison does not accumulate in the body. Lethal dose in practice, it is not calculated for humans, but there is an assumption that death occurs at a dose determined by weight, as a result of swelling of the lungs.

The generally tolerated dose is 6.5 mcg/kg body weight per week.

Citrinine

A toxin that, when directly exposed to the body, causes kidney damage in humans.

Ochratoxin

It has a pronounced nephrotoxic effect, like citrinin, the toxin is especially dangerous for pregnant women, causing deviations from the norm at the physiological level in the fetus.

Aflatoxin

This mycotoxin is a natural contaminant of cereals, peanuts, sunflowers and other oilseeds. It is a pronounced hepatocarcinogen that causes malignant cancers.

Zearalenone

Zearalenone toxin is a toxin that has a pronounced estrogenic effect, a natural anabolic that increases the amount of male hormones in the body.

Other manifestations of mold

As a rule, in everyday life, people are more accustomed to dealing with the usual manifestations of mold that can form on food:

• on apples;
• peaches;
• oranges;
• lemons

The reason for its occurrence can be different - from the presence of punctures on the fruit to improper storage conditions. You should not eat fruits on which mold or rot has formed, even if you cut out the spoiled part.

Separately, it is worth mentioning the mold that forms in residential premises. As a rule, these are the premises:

• with low air circulation;
• with lack of ventilation;
• high humidity.

Such conditions are most favorable for the development of mold, which can cause frequent colds, asthma, and various allergies. If the following symptoms bother you while eating well, you should check the room for fungal infections on the walls, windows or floors.

Symptoms

Symptoms of mycotic diseases:

1. Frequent colds.
2. Cough, runny nose without progression of inflammatory diseases.
3. Asthmatic shortness of breath.
4. Recurrent seasonal skin rashes.
5. Changes in the structure of the nail plates.
6. Diarrhea, frequent intestinal problems.
7. Headache.
8. Nervousness, insomnia, depression.
9. General weakness, slight increase in temperature.

If symptoms recur at short intervals, seasonally or without any reason (medication, chronic established disease) and additional treatment vitamin complexes does not bring or brings a short-term effect, you should check the apartment for fungus.

In residential areas the fungus is found:

• in bathrooms;
• under the windows;
• on the walls under the sinks.

Also, it can enter the apartment with dirt and dust from the street. To eliminate it, sometimes it is enough to treat the wall and then maintain hygiene in the apartment.

Onychomycosis caused by mold fungi of the genus Penicillum is less common than Candida or others, but is also probable. In any case, treatment must begin with a diagnosis that determines the specific infectious agent affecting the nail.

Allergic asthma caused by mold fungi has all the symptoms of a full-fledged disease, and it is difficult to determine whether this disease is true or not. allergic reaction, is also possible after diagnosis.

Do not underestimate the effect of fungi and mold in the house on the body, because... for people with reduced immunity - sick people, infants, children, the elderly and pregnant women - this can be fraught with serious consequences.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is worth recalling that, like any infection, a fungal infection is dangerous when the immune system is weakened, therefore, first of all, treatment should begin with strengthening the immune system.