• Mycobiology
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.78-85
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• 2021

Morels (Morchella spp.) are valuable medicinal and edible mushrooms. In this study, chemical profiles of aromas and lipophilic extracts of black morel (Morchella importuna) grown in China were analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy, along with the evaluation of antioxidant and antimicrobial activities for the lipophilic extracts. Sixty-five compounds in total were identified from the aromas, and 1-octen-3-ol was the main component for aromas of fresh (34.40%) and freeze-dried (68.61%) black morels, while the most abundant compound for the aroma of the oven-dried sample was 2(5H)-furanone (13.95%). From the lipophilic extracts, 29 compounds were identified with linoleic acid as the main compound for fresh (77.37%) and freeze-dried (56.46%) black morels and steroids (92.41%) as the main constituent for an oven-dried sample. All three lipophilic extracts showed moderate antioxidant activities against 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl and 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) with the IC50 values ranging 7.56~17.52 mg/mL and 5.75~9.73 mg/mL, respectively, and no obvious antimicrobial activity was observed for lipophilic extracts. The drying methods affect the chemical profile of black morel, and freeze-drying was favorable for retaining nutrients and morel smell. This is the first report on the aroma and lipophilic extracts of M. importuna grown in China.

• Journal of Mushroom
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.100-106
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• 2020

Eight morel mushroom species were collected from Korea and other countries. The culture characteristics, genetic relationships, and beta-glucan content of the strains were analyzed. The mycelia of Morchella species exhibited optimal growth when cultured in dark at 25 ℃ in media with pH 7. The mycelia had a distinctive mycelial scent and characteristically changed color, being white initially, and then turning dark yellow to dark brown as it grew. The mycelia were classified into five types based on morphology. The isolates were identified as Morchella conica, two M. sextelata, M. importuna, M. esculenta, and three M. crassipes, based on ITS-rDNA sequences. PCR polymorphisms were variably produced within Morchella spp. using Universal Fungal Fingerprinting Primers (UFPF) and classified into four groups at the intra and inter species level. The strains, KMCC04971 and KMCC04407, showed the same banding pattern as M. conica and M. sextelata, respectively; however, these results were different from those of ITS analysis. Glucan content analysis by strain showed that the KMCC 04973 strain of M. importuna had the highest alpha- and beta-glucan content, at 16.4 g and 33.1 g per 100 g, respectively.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.12
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• pp.2180-2189
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• 2017

Psychrophilic phytases suitable for aquaculture are rare. In this study, a phytase of the histidine acid phosphatase (HAP) family was identified in Morchella importuna, a psychrophilic mushroom. The phytase showed 38% identity with Aspergillus niger PhyB, which was the closest hit. The M. importuna phytase was overexpressed in Pichia pastoris, purified, and characterized. The phytase had an optimum temperature at $25^{\circ}C$, which is the lowest among all the known phytases to our best knowledge. The optimum pH (6.5) is higher than most of the known HAP phytases, which is fit for the weak acidic condition in fish gut. At the optimum pH and temperature, MiPhyA showed the maximum activity level ($2,384.6{\pm}90.4{\mu}mol{\cdot}min^{-1}{\cdot}mg^{-1}$, suggesting that the enzyme possesses a higher activity level over many known phytases at low temperatures. The phytate-degrading efficacy was tested on three common feed materials (soybean meal/rapeseed meal/corn meal) and was compared with the well-known phytases of Escherichia coli and A. niger. When using the same amount of activity units, MiPhyA could yield at least $3{\times}$ more inorganic phosphate than the two reference phytases. When using the same weight of protein, MiPhyA could yield at least $5{\times}$ more inorganic phosphate than the other two. Since it could degrade phytate in feed materials efficiently under low temperature and weak acidic conditions, which are common for aquacultural application, MiPhyA might be a promising candidate as a feed additive enzyme.