Friday, 20 May 2016

Chewing up the Wood-Wide Web: Selective Grazing on Ectomycorrhizal Fungi by Collembola

Forests 2015, 6(8), 2560-2570; doi:10.3390/f6082560

Article

Chewing up the Wood-Wide Web: Selective Grazing on Ectomycorrhizal Fungi by Collembola

1 Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Cruickshank Building, St. Machar Drive, Aberdeen AB24 3UU, UK

2 Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, University of Western Sydney, Penrith, NSW 1797, Australia

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Academic Editors: Burenjargal Otgonsuren and Eric J. Jokela

Received: 6 March 2015 / Revised: 19 June 2015 / Accepted: 21 July 2015 / Published: 28 July 2015

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mycorrhizal Fungi of Forests)

View Full-Text. | Download PDF [873 KB, uploaded 28 July 2015] | Browse Figures

Abstract

The mycelia of some symbiotic ectomycorrhizal fungi form extensive networks—the so called “wood-wide web”—that have key roles in biogeochemical cycling. By interacting with myriad soil organisms such as collembola, the fungi directly affect the functioning of above- and below-ground multitrophic interactions in ecosystems. Here we tested whether the grazing activities of collembola affected the growth of ectomycorrhizal fungi in single or mixed species axenic cultures, and their impact on ectomycorrhizal diversity in litterbags in the field. We also used 14CO2 pulse-labelling to test the effects of collembola on respiratory losses of recent plant assimilate from external mycelium of ectomycorrhizal fungi in symbiosis with Scots pine or birch. We found that the effects of collembola varied across species, and caused a significant reduction in the amount of 14CO2 released from external mycorrhizal mycelium from three of the eight species combinations but increased it in one. Selective grazing also significantly affected the community structure of ectomycorrhizal fungi. Our findings demonstrate the importance of collembola in regulating ectomycorrhizal fungal diversity and activity and below-ground pathways of carbon flow.

Keywords: biodiversity; soil invertebrates; multitrophic interactions; carbon turnover; selective grazing; pulse-labelling; 14CO2

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

For further details log on website :

http://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/6/8/2560

How Do Men Get Rid of Wrinkles on Their Forehead?

Whether your skin is prematurely aging in your twenties or you are developing fine lines in your forties, wrinkles are often an unwelcome sight on anyone's forehead. Women often tackle the bothersome wrinkles with an arsenal of skin care products and facial treatments. Men, however, are often somewhat timid when it comes to facial products and treatments. Fortunately, with just a few simple techniques, men can prevent, treat and get rid of wrinkles on their forehead.

Moisturizers work for men's wrinkles. Photo Credit man in blue jacket image by GeoM from <a href='http://www.fotolia.com'>Fotolia.com</a>

Moisturize daily with a quality facial cream. Although moisturizing has traditionally been considered a "girl thing," the Ask Men website claims that the daily ritual no longer applies to just women. In fact, the website explains that "moisturizing your face on a daily basis will help promote hydration, skin cell regeneration, healing, and prevent damaging effects from external forces and weather conditions that lead to premature wrinkles." Choose a facial moisturizer with vitamins, minerals, nutrients and antioxidants and simply apply small amount to your face after showering.

Apply sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of at least 15 every day. As explained on the Aloette website, "the sun's harmful UV rays are one of the foremost causes of wrinkles." Prevent new wrinkles from forming and current wrinkles from worsening by applying an SPF sunscreen every morning. If you are planning to spend a decent amount of time directly in the sun, use a slightly more protective sunscreen, such as an SPF 30.

Exercise your facial muscles regularly. As with exercising the rest of the body, exercising your facial muscles improves the overall appearance of the facial skin. As the facial muscles are exercised, circulation to the face is improved. As a result, the muscles become more toned, the skin becomes less relaxed and the wrinkles become less prominent. For forehead wrinkles, the Fitness Health Zone website recommends placing your index fingers just above your eyes and gently pulling down as you raise your eyebrows. Add in a few extra exercises for the lips, cheeks, chin and neck to prevent wrinkles from developing in these areas.

Drink at least eight glasses of water every day. As explained on the Ask Men website, "dehydration leads to parched, wrinkle-ridden skin." Keep your skin looking youthful and smooth by carrying a reusable water bottle with you everywhere you go. Aim to take a few sips of water every 15 to 20 minutes, re-filling your bottle as it empties. Along with skin hydration, proper hydration also provides a variety of health benefits for the body and your energy levels.

Reduce the stress in your life by implementing stress-relief techniques that work for you. Stress often shows up on the face with the development of wrinkles on the forehead, around the mouth and in the space between the eyes. Fortunately, reducing your current stress level can improve the health and vitality of the skin. While some men might relieve stress with a brisk walk around the neighborhood, for example, others might enjoy relaxing on the couch with their favorite music for a few minutes each day. Choose the activity that works best for you.

Sunscreen
Facial moisturizer
Water

www.livestrong.com

Does Walking Burn More Fat Than Jogging?

Walking and jogging are both effective for burning calories and improving your cardiovascular health. When it comes to burning fat, many people assume that jogging is more effective than walking. But walking can be just as effective as jogging if you walk for a long-enough duration at a high-enough intensity.

Does Walking Burn More Fat Than Jogging?

Brisk walking may be just as effective as jogging for burning calories. Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Goodshoot/Getty Images.

A 2004 study published in "Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise" found that running required more energy than walking over a distance of 1,600 meters. But the running speed in this study was twice that of the walking speed. Another study published in the Journal of "Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness" found that during walking and jogging at the same speed over the same distance, walkers burned as much or more energy than joggers.

An article published in "The Physician and Sports Medicine" noted that moderate-intensity activity such as easy jogging has a higher rate of fat oxidation than low-intensity walking. But walking at higher intensities may result in similar fat-burning activity. An article published in the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition" found that endurance exercise performed at 65 percent of maximal oxygen consumption recruited nearly twice as much fat as activities performed at 25 percent of maximal oxygen consumption.

The time you spend walking versus jogging will influence how much fat you burn, particularly if you jog faster than you walk. A 2013 study of 33,000 runners and 15,000 walkers by the American Heart Association found that runners tend to expend twice as much energy as walkers, probably because they cover more distance in the same amount of time. However, if you are more likely to maintain a walking program, walking is probably a better choice for burning fat over the long run.

www.livestrong.com

Quick Low-Carb Breakfast Ideas

You may have heard breakfast is the most important meal of the day and wonder if it's true. Breakfast is critical to jump-start your day after an all-night fast, when your body has no outside source of nutrition. Although high-carbohydrate foods such as pastries and bagels might seem obvious breakfast choices, limiting your intake of these types of foods high in simple carbs can help promote the overall health of your body. The Institute of Medicine recommends about 130 grams of carbs per day for adults. But if you are limiting your dietary carbs, many options exist for quick but tasty low-carb breakfast menus.

Eggs are an excellent source of protein and other nutrients. They are also a traditional breakfast food that contains no carbs, with 5 grams of fat, including 1.5 grams in the form of saturated fat, per large egg. To limit your intake of saturated fat and help keep your blood cholesterol low, choose egg whites or egg substitute, which contain only trace amounts of fat. Avoid adding fat to fried eggs by using low-fat spray in your pan, and pair egg whites or egg substitute with low-fat cheese such as Swiss, which has only 1.5 grams of carbs per slice.

For a low-carb, crunchy breakfast, you might mix Greek yogurt with nuts. Six ounces of plain Greek nonfat yogurt contains only 6 grams of carbs, which is only about 5 percent of the recommended daily intake of carbs. Adding nuts to yogurt can add crunch and flavor, and many nuts are relatively low in carbs. For example, 23 whole almonds, or about 1 ounce, contains 6 grams of carbs, and 1 ounce or about 12 macadamia nuts provides only about 4 grams. Nuts can be high in fat, which you should consider in your daily meal plan, but most of their fat tends to be healthy, unsaturated fat.

You might not think of vegetables for breakfast, but some types make good choices. Many fresh vegetables are low in carbs but packed with minerals, vitamins and other nutrients. For example, fresh, chopped cauliflower has only 5 grams of carbs per cup and can be grated and combined with a bit of egg substitute and seasoning to form a tasty "hash brown" vegetable patty. Chopped asparagus, which also has 5 grams of carbs per cup, can be added to eggs or sautéed alone and sprinkled with chopped nuts. Eating veggies and nuts at breakfast can also boost your daily fiber intake.

A breakfast smoothie made in your blender or juicer can give your day a good start and can also be low in carbs. You can start with 6 ounces of Greek yogurt, which has 6 grams of carbs, and add low-carb green vegetables such as green beans, kale or spinach, which have between 1 and 5 grams of carbs per cup. For a sweeter smoothie, substitute a few berries, such as strawberries, for the veggies. These have about 1 gram of carbs per large strawberry, but don't add too many, because 1 full cup of sliced berries provides 11 grams of carbs.

www.livestrong.com

Build a Puzzle Stool with Robert W. Lang

The Bill Anderson Woodworking Collection – Limited Quantity Available!

By Robert W. Lang

Format: DVD

Master complex 3-way joinery & learn how to make a puzzle stool!

This stool may appear simple at first glance, but in reality, it possesses an inventive puzzle at its core - a three-way mortise and tenon. The joint alone is elementary; the secret is all in the layout and the manner in which you sneak up on a perfect fit. In this woodworking tutorial you’ll learn how to:

Master the fundamentals of angled, hand-cut mortise & tenon joinery.
Fit a perfect through-tenon.
Adapt a successful design to project from paper.
Craft two-dimensional tapered legs.
And more!

About the instructor:

Bob Lang has been a professional woodworker since the early 1970s. His experience includes building custom furniture and cabinets as well as managing and engineering large architectural millwork projects. He is the author of several “Shop Drawings” books about furniture and interiors of the Arts & Crafts Movement of the early 1900s.

Watch a Preview Now

SKU	T0374
Author/Speaker/Editor	Robert W. Lang
Format	DVD
ISBN 13	9781440335129
Runtime	166 minutes

For further information log on website :

http://www.shopwoodworking.com/build-a-puzzle-stool-with-robert-w-lang

Frequency of occurrence of fungi on wood in Malaysian mangroves

SpringerLink

Article

Hydrobiologia

January 1995, Volume 295, Issue 1, pp 97-106

First online:

Frequency of occurrence of fungi on wood in Malaysian mangroves

S. A. Alias

, A. J. Kuthubutheen

, E. B. G. Jones

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Insid

Abstract

Over one hundred fungi have been reported on mangrove wood (Hyde and Jones, 1988; Jones and Kuthubutheen, 1989; Hyde and Jones, unpublished) from tropical and subtropical locations. A variety of factors affect the frequency of occurrence of these fungi, e.g . salinity, length of exposure of substrate, wood species and location within the mangrove. Two aspects are addressed in this paper: a) Comparison of the fungi present at three mangroves in Malaysia (Morib, Kuala Selangor, Port Dickson); and b) The fungi colonising specific mangrove wood, e.g. Avecennia marina, Bruguiera gymnorrhiza. Species diversity was greatest at Port Dickson with 63 fungi recorded while species composition varied from site to site. Common fungi at Morib and Kuala Selangor were Halocyphina villosa and Leptosphaeria australiensis along with Kallichroma tethys and Lulworthia grandispora at the latter site. None of these were common at Port Dickson, the dominant species at this site were Hypoxylon oceanicumand Massarina ramunculicola. A comparison of the fungi occurring on Avicennia marina and Bruguiera gymnorrhizaindicated that Halocyphina villosa was common on both timbers. Species diversity and abundance were greatest on Avicennia with the following fungi listed as common: Eutypa sp., Kallichroma tethys, Marinosphaera mangrovei, Phoma sp. and Julelia avicenniae.

Key words

mangrove fungi frequency of occurrence marine tropical

Title

Frequency of occurrence of fungi on wood in Malaysian mangroves

Journal

Hydrobiologia
Volume 295, Issue 1-3 , pp 97-106

Cover Date

1995-01

DOI

10.1007/BF00029116

Print ISSN

0018-8158

Online ISSN

1573-5117

Publisher

Kluwer Academic Publishers

Additional Links

Authors

Author Affiliations

1. Department of Botany, University of Malaya, 59100, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2. School of Biological Sciences, University of Portsmouth, King Henry Building, King Henry I Street, PO1 2DY, Portsmouth, Hampshire, UK

For further details log on website :

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF00029116

Microchemical studies of wood degradation by brown rot and white rot fungi in two tropical timbers

International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation

1996, Vol.38(2): 119–122, doi:10.1016/S0964-8305(96)00033-9

Microchemical studies of wood degradation by brown rot and white rot fungi in two tropical timbers

B.O. Ejechi^,a

C.O. Obuekwe^b

A.O. Ogbimi^b

aDepartment of Microbiology, Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria
bDepartment of Microbiology, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria

Accepted 8 July 1996. Available online 22 February 1999.

Abstract

An observation that the growth of the brown rot fungus Gloeophyllum sepiarium and another species of the same genus isolated from decaying timbers-in-buildings, ‘bleached’ mahogany (Khaya ivorensis) timber, prompted a laboratory investigation of their pattern of wood degradation in obeche (Triplochiton scleroxylon) and mahogany. The white rot fungus Pleurotus ostreatus was studied for comparison. Microchemical and quantitative analyses indicated that the Gloeophyllum species degraded cellulose, but not lignin. P. ostreatus attacked lignin after substantially degrading cellulose. Spot tests indicated laccase production by all three species studied. Lignin peroxidase was detected only with P. ostreatus. It is hypothesized that laccase may be partly associated with breakdown of the decay-retarding pigmented extractives of the timbers. ‘Bleaching’ may have been due to lightening of timber colour caused by removal of these pigmented compounds.

To whom correspondence should be addressed.

For further details log on website :

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0964830596000339

Effect of metal ions on autofluorescence of the dry rot fungus Serpula lacrymans grown on spruce wood

SpringerLink

Article

Folia Microbiologica

March 2016, Volume 61, Issue 2, pp 119-128

First online: 22 July 2015

Effect of metal ions on autofluorescence of the dry rot fungus Serpula lacrymansgrown on spruce wood

Jiří Gabriel

, Zdeněk Žižka

, Karel Švec

, Andrea Nasswettrová

, Pavel Šmíra

, Olga Kofroňová

, Oldřich Benada

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Abstract

This work describes autofluorescence of the mycelium of the dry rot fungus Serpula lacrymans grown on spruce wood blocks impregnated with various metals. Live mycelium, as opposed to dead mycelium, exhibited yellow autofluorescence upon blue excitation, blue fluorescence with ultraviolet (UV) excitation, orange-red and light-blue fluorescence with violet excitation, and red fluorescence with green excitation. Distinctive autofluorescence was observed in the fungal cell wall and in granula localized in the cytoplasm. In dead mycelium, the intensity of autofluorescence decreased and the signal was diffused throughout the cytoplasm. Metal treatment affected both the color and intensity of autofluorescence and also the morphology of the mycelium. The strongest yellow signal was observed with blue excitation in Cd-treated samples, in conjunction with increased branching and the formation of mycelial loops and protrusions. For the first time, we describe pink autofluorescence that was observed in Mn-, Zn-, and Cu-treated samples with UV, violet or. blue excitation. The lowest signals were obtained in Cu- and Fe-treated samples. Chitin, an important part of the fungal cell wall exhibited intensive primary fluorescence with UV, violet, blue, and green excitation.

Title

Effect of metal ions on autofluorescence of the dry rot fungus Serpula lacrymans grown on spruce wood

Journal

Folia Microbiologica
Volume 61, Issue 2 , pp 119-128

Cover Date

2016-03

DOI

10.1007/s12223-015-0415-x

Print ISSN

0015-5632

Online ISSN

1874-9356

Publisher

Springer Netherlands

Additional Links

Authors

Author Affiliations

1. Laboratory of Environmental Microbiology, Institute of Microbiology AS CR, Vídeňská 1083, 142 20, Prague 4-Krč, Czech Republic
2. Laboratory of Characterization of Molecular Structure, Institute of Microbiology AS CR, Vídeňská 1083, 142 20, Prague 4-Krč, Czech Republic
3. Research and Development, Thermo Sanace s.r.o., Chamrádova 475/23, 718 00, Ostrava-Kunčičky, Czech Republic

For further details log on website :

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12223-015-0415-x

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