Defining the System, Slowly
Yes, these are the same three fungi we captured growing in land-disposed sewage sludge in multiple forest locations, while nearly all other forest fungi were suppressed or killed.
Yes, these three fungi appear to be among the few forest fungi that are toxin-tolerant.
Yes, they grow very slowly, and yes, we are trying gain better control over their in vitro growth behavior.
Yes, we achieved managing their growth in liquid culture, and yes, we now know the antibiotics in which they will not grow.
The purpose of this stage of the experiment is to establish managed growth of these three forest fungi in a controlled laboratory environment. By doing so we will be able to define a functional method for exposing them individually to specific sewage sludge toxins, intending to induce the production of new compounds as self-defense mechanisms against the introduced toxins.
Separately, at another laboratory, we identified a series of industrial toxins from sewage sludge leachates collected from a forest site used for the land-disposal of sewage sludge. These toxins are known mutagens, carcinogens and neurotoxins, among other adverse traits. The same sewage sludge that was the source of the leachates and of the industrial toxins is being evaluated now separately for the same toxins. These same toxins will be used in an attempt to induce the target fungi to produce novel, self-protective compounds of our interest.
This work, although not explained here in technical detail, is intended to reveal a new method for inducing toxin-tolerant microbes to produce new classes of novel compounds that may have unique pharmacological attributes of value for the treatment of chronic diseases.
This is new science.
Hypholoma fasiculare mycelium growing on antibiotic-free medium.
Hypholoma fasiculare as captured in the forest, growing on sludge covered soil.
Mycena spp., also as captured in the forest, growing on sludge covered soil.
The other Mycena spp., also as captured in the forest, growing in deep sewage sludge in a dry stream bed.
Hypholoma fasiculare growing on several forms of sterilized forest floor debris.
Mycena spp. growing on sterilized woody forest floor debris.
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