Pseudoplectania nigrella
Shiny black bristle Ling ( Pseudoplectania nigrella )
The Shining or sessile black bristle Ling ( Pseudoplectania nigrella ) is an ascomycete from the family of Sarcosomataceae. It can be found during the spring in coniferous forests. From the fruiting bodies, researchers have effective antibiotic Plectasin isolated.
- 6.1 Literature
- 6.2 Notes and references
Features
Macroscopic characteristics
The sessile fruiting body reach a height of 1.5 cm and a diameter of 1-3 cm. First, nearly spherical closed they open to a veined - wrinkled disc. The edge is sharp and last torn. The shiny black fruit layer becomes dull with age. Outside are the fruiting body brown-black, and densely and shortly tomentose. The firm, odorless meat has a whitish-gray color.
Microscopic characteristics
The cylindrical tubes ( asci ) have an elongated base and 300-325 microns long. The round, smooth spores have a diameter of 10-12 microns. The sterile elements in the fruit layer ( paraphyses ) are colored elongated and brown.
Artabgrenzung
The fruiting bodies of the fir - black bristle -form ( P. vogesiaca ) appear immediately after the snow melts lying on trunks and branches of white pine. The considerably rarer peat moss - black bristle Ling ( P. sphagnophila ) growing in early summer on peat moss. In addition to the specific habitat it is characterized by deep -formed cup.
Ecology
The Shiny Black bristle Ling is a type of coniferous forests. It occurs mainly in spruce stands, however whether they are natural or artificially grown as for example in the North German Plain and in the Bohemian Basin. The fungus lives in the raw humus saprob between rotting needles.
Its fruit bodies appear most sociable in late winter to early spring in mossy places.
Dissemination
The fungus is distributed worldwide and has been detected in North America, the Caribbean, Europe, India, Madagascar, New Zealand and Japan.
Importance
Defensins are antibiotic protein-based, which are mostly found in animals and higher plants. Plectasin was discovered in Pseudoplectania nigrella defensin, and is the first of which was isolated from a fungus. The chemical structure of Plectasin resembles defensins found in spiders, scorpions, dragonflies and mussels. In laboratory experiments Plectasin successfully inhibited the growth of Streptococcus pneumoniae, also in strains that are resistant to conventional antibiotics. Plectasin is only slightly toxic in mice and healed them with peritonitis and pneumonia, which were caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae and therefore shows its therapeutic potential.