Aspergillus is an important fungal genus used for the fermentation of Asian foods; this genus is referred to as koji mold in Japan and China. A. oryzae, A. sojae, and A. tamari are used in the prod...

Various zygomycota species were detected during a study of the mycobiota of meju, a brick of dried fermented soybeans, used in Korean cuisine. Two hundred and sixty-eight strains were isolated from 98 finished meju products collected in various regions of Korea from 2009 to 2011, and 96 strains were isolated from in-process meju on various farms from 2010 to 2011. The isolated zygomycota were identified using phenotypic characteristics combined with DNA sequences of the internal transcribed spacer regions of ribosomal DNA and the D1/D2 nuclear ribosomal large subunit. Of 364 zygomycota strains, 108 were identified as Mucor circinelloides, 96 as M. racemosus, 60 as Lichtheimia ramosa, 22 as Rhizopus stolonifer, 16 as Lichtheimia corymbifera, and the other 62 strains comprised 10 other species. The psychrotrophic species, Mucor circinelloides and M. racemosus were predominantly present during low temperature fermentation (LTF) and the thermotolerant species Lichtheimia ramosa and Rhizomucor species were predominant during high temperature fermentation (HTF). The results suggest that temperature has a large influence on the zygomycota composition during the fermentation process of meju.

Eurotium strains were isolated from 77 loaves of meju (dried fermented soybeans), in various regions of Korea from 2008 to 2010. Morphological characteristics and DNA sequences of β-tubulin were examined. They were identified as Eurotium amstelodami, E. chevalieri, E. herbariorum, E. repens, E. rubrum, and E. tonophilum. Of these species, E. chevalieri and E. tonophilum had not been previously reported in association with meju. E. chevalieri and E. repens were the species isolated most frequently. This paper summarizes the morphological characteristics of six Eurotium species and provides key to identify the species from meju.

In order to elucidate the fungal diversity and community structure in freshwater environments, numerous fungal strains were isolated from freshwater, submerged soils, twigs, dead insects, etc. Among them, the present study has focused specifically on Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Talaromyces species, which produce diverse useful metabolites in general. Twelve strains of Aspergillus isolated were identified as A. japonicus (n = 5), A. tubingensis (3), A. niger (2), and A. flavus (2), 10 strains of which belong to Aspergillus section Nigri, named black Aspergillus. Eight strains of Penicillium were identified as P. brasilianim (n = 3), P. oxalicum (2), P. crustosum (1), P. expansum (1), and P. piscarium (1). Two different strains of Talaromyces were identified as T. pinophilus and T. versatilis. Thus far, Penicillium piscarium and Talaromyces versatilis have been unrecorded in Korea, for which we provide detailed morphological and molecular characteristics.

Polyunsaturated fatty acids such as linoleic acid (LA) and α-linolenic acid (ALA) are abundant in vegetable oils and are important for human health. In the body, LA and ALA are respectively converted to the omega-6 fatty acid γ-linolenic acid (GLA) and the omega-3 fatty acid stearidonic acid (SDA) by Δ6 desaturase (D6DES). Currently, dietary GLA and SDA are mainly obtained from marine organisms, but given their benefits to human health, many studies have aimed to enhance their accumulation in transgenic crops. Perilla frutescens (perilla) accumulates more ALA in its seed oil compared to other oilseed crops, making it a good candidate for the production of fatty acids via the fatty acid desaturase D6DES. In this study, we cloned the D6DES gene from Phytophthora citrophthora and confirmed its function in budding yeast. We then transformed the functional D6DES gene under the control of the seed-specific vicilin promoter into the perilla cultivar Yeobsil. The resulting transgenic perilla seeds accumulated significant levels of GLA and SDA, as well as putative C18:2Δ6,9 at minor levels. Developing seeds and leaves also accumulated GLA and SDA, although PcD6DES expression and GLA and SDA levels were much lower in leaves compared to developing seeds. GLA and SDA accumulated in both polar lipids and neutral lipids in mature perilla seeds expressing PcD6DES, especially in neutral lipids. Although the seed weight in PcD6DES perilla was 87–96% that of wild type, the total oil content per seed weight was similar between lines. The PcD6DES perilla plants contained very high content (over 45%) of both GLA and SDA in seed oil. Thus, PcD6DES perilla plants may represent a feasible alternative to traditional marine sources for the production of omega-3 oil capsules and to evening primrose seed oil for GLA as health food. In addition, these plants can be used to create other transgenic lines harboring additional genes to produce other desirable fish-oil like oils.