ABSTRACT Production of conidia of Penicillium oxalicum (ATCC number pending), a biocontrol agent of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici, was tested in liquid and solid fermentation. P. oxalicum produced 250-fold more conidia in solid than in liquid fermentation at 30 days after inoculation of substrate. Solid fermentation was carried out in plastic bags (600 cm(3)) especially designed for solid fermentation (VALMIC) containing 50 g of peat/vermiculite (PV) (1:1, wt/wt) with 40% moisture, sealed, sterilized, and then inoculated with 1 ml of a conidial suspension of P. oxalicum (10(5) conidia g(-1) dry substrate), sealed again, and incubated in darkness at 20 to 25 degrees C for 30 days. Addition of amendments to PV in a proportion of 0.5 (wt/wt) significantly increased conidial production of P. oxalicum. The best production was obtained on PV plus meal of cereal grains (barley) or leguminous seeds (lentil) (100-fold higher). Conidial production obtained after 5 days of inoculation was similar to that obtained at 30 days. However, viability of conidia produced in PV plus lentil meal was 35% higher than that of conidia produced in PV plus barley meal. Changes in proportions (1:1:0.5, wt/wt/wt; 1:1:1, wt/wt/wt; 1:0.5:0.5, wt/wt/wt; 1:1:0.5, vol/vol/vol) of components of the substrate (peat/vermiculite/lentil meal) did not enhance production or viability of conidia. Optimal initial moisture in the substrate was 30 to 40%. At lower moistures, significant reductions of production of conidia were observed, particularly at 10%. There was a general decline in the number of conidia in bags with time of storage at -80, -20, 4, and 25 degrees C, or at room temperature (range from 30 to 15 degrees C), with the highest decline occurring from 60 to 180 days. Conidial viability also was reduced with time, except for conidia stored at -20 degrees C. Fresh conidia produced in solid fermentation system or those conidia stored at -20 degrees C for 180 days reduced Fusarium wilt of tomato by 49 and 61%, respectively.

Production of conidia of Epicoccum nigrum, a biocontrol agent of the fungal pathogen Monilinia laxa, was tested in liquid- and solid-state fermentation. Liquid fermentation was conducted in 250 ml Erlenmeyer flasks containing 50 ml of a mineral medium (containing per litre: 20 g lactose, 10 g NO3K, 1 g K2HPO4, 0.5 g MgSO4.7H2O, and 1 ml of a minor-element solution), inoculated with 2 x 10(5) E. nigrum conidia ml(-1), and incubated at 20-25 degrees C and 150 rpm for 7 days. Solid-state fermentation was carried out in specially designed plastic bags (600 cm3) (VALMIC) containing either 50 g of peat/vermiculite (1:1, w/w), or 50 g of peat/vermiculite/lentil meal (1:1:1, w/w/w) with 40% (v/w) initial moisture content. Substrate was inoculated with a conidial suspension of E. nigrum to give 10(5) conidia g(-1) substrate, and bags were incubated at 20-25 degrees C for 7 days in darkness. The amount of conidia of E. nigrum obtained in solid-state fermentation with substrate based on peat/vermiculite/lentil meal was 10-fold higher than with substrate based on peat/vermiculite or in liquid fermentation. Conidial production under these conditions was maintained in the range of 10(8) conidia g(-1) substrate from 10 to 150 days after inoculation. Germinability of these conidia was >90%. Addition of other nutrients than lentil meal to peat/vermiculite did not enhance production of conidia. Presence of peat in the substrate was necessary for good conidia production, but change in the kind of peat or vermiculite did not improve conidial production. Conidial production was similar when the substrate was inoculated with 10(5), 10(6) or 10(7) conidia g(-1) dry substrate. Incubation of bags in light conditions did not enhance conidial production. Fresh conidia produced in this solid-state fermentation system reduced the incidence and lesion diameter induced by M. laxa on peaches.

The soluble core of catecholamine storage vesicles in the adrenal medulla contains high concentrations of the cations calcium (20 mM) and catecholamine (600 mM). Do these cations interact with the abundant vesicle core anionic proteins, the chromogranins? We investigated the binding of calcium and norepinephrine (NE) to bovine adrenal chromogranins by equilibrium dialysis. Both calcium and NE were bound saturably by chromogranins, with low affinity (Kd values of 1.3 x 10(-4) M and 2.1 x 10(-3) M), but high capacity (17 and 32 mol of ligand/mol of chromogranin A). Both ligands bound maximally at a pH greater than 5.5 and were displaced by competing cations in a pattern (trivalent greater than divalent greater than monovalent) consistent with electrostatic components to the interactions. Binding of calcium and NE was not impaired by prior heat denaturation of the chromogranins, and chromogranin A was involved in both binding reactions. Calcium but not NE binding was enhanced by nonpolar solvents. Temperature dependence studies indicated that calcium binding to chromogranins was largely entropy-driven, while NE binding was driven by a significantly negative (favorable) change in enthalpy (5760 cal/mol), even in the face of an unfavorable entropy. Exposure of chromogranins to calcium or NE resulted in precipitation (aggregation) as analyzed by centrifugation and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. NE was a more effective chromogranin precipitant than calcium, and in combination, the NE effect was antagonized by calcium. Precipitation of chromogranins by both calcium and NE was inhibited by NaCl at ionic strengths comparable with those of the ligands. These data suggest that chromogranins bind and are precipitated by calcium and NE at affinities compatible with their in situ concentrations, but that the interactions exhibit different thermodynamic driving forces. Furthermore, NE may trigger an enthalpy-driven conformational change in chromogranins, resulting in aggregation.