Entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) are microorganisms that cause fatal diseases of arthropods. The infection process involves several stages that consist of direct contact of the fungus with the surface of the cuticle of the attacked insect. The factors that determine the effectiveness of the infection process include lytic enzymes, secondary metabolites, and adhesins produced by EPF. Because of their high insecticidal effectiveness, these fungi are commonly used as biopesticides in organic farming. As the environment and farmlands are contaminated with many compounds of anthropogenic origin (e.g., pesticides), the effects of these toxic compounds on EPF and the mechanisms that affect their survival in such a toxic environment have been studied in recent years. This review presents information on the capacity of EPF to remove toxic contaminants, including alkylphenols, organotin compounds, synthetic estrogens, pesticides and hydrocarbons. Moreover, these fungi produce numerous secondary metabolites that can be potentially used in medicine or as antimicrobial agents. Despite their huge potential in biocontrol processes, the use of EPF has been underestimated due to a lack of knowledge on their abilities. In our work, we have presented the available data on the possibilities of the additional and unconventional use of these microorganisms.

Two diterpenoids, salvipisone (Salv) and aethiopinone (Aeth), isolated from hairy roots of Salvia sclarea, were tested with respect to their activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and S. epidermidis (MRSE) strains, cultured as planktonic cells or as adherent biofilms. The standard CLSI method, MTT reduction assay or confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) were used for this purpose and also applied for testing the susceptibility to oxacillin, vancomycin, linezolid and their potential synergy with diterpenoids (evaluated as a fractional inhibitory concentration (FIC) index). Salv and Aeth were shown to be bactericidal or bacteriostatic against S. aureus and S. epidermidis planktonic cultures. Both diterpenoids, at the concentrations of œ MIC, showed synergy with antibiotics representing the β-lactam, glycopeptide and oxazolidinone groups. None of the antibiotics used at a high concentration killed the staphylococcal biofilms. On the contrary, Salv and Aeth decreased the number of live biofilm cells by 45.7 - 77.1 % and slightly reduced the biofilm inhibitory concentration of oxacillin. Diterpenoids also changed the parameters of biofilm morphology, as shown by the CLSM image processing package (PHLIP). It was concluded that salvipisone and aethiopinone (relatively highly lipophilic, log P respectively = 3.4; 4.8) synergized the action of β-lactam antibiotics towards MRSA and MRSE probably by alteration of cell surface hydrophobicity and cell wall/membrane permeability, but not by changing penicillin-binding protein, PBP2a expression and penicillinase production or by direct binding to the cell wall peptidoglycan and teichoic acids. Aeth:aethiopinone ATCC:American Type Culture Collection CAM:calcein-AM CLSI:Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute CLSM:confocal laser scanning microscopy CSH:cell surface hydrophobicity DMSO:dimethyl sulfoxide FIC:fractional inhibitory concentration MHB:Mueller-Hinton broth MIC:minimal inhibitory concentration MRSA/MSSA:methicillin resistant/susceptible Staphylococcus aureus MRSE/MSSE:methicillin resistant/susceptible S. epidermidis MTT:3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide OD:optical density PBP:penicillin binding protein PG:peptidoglycan PI:propidium iodide Salv:salvipisone SAT:salt aggregation test TA:teichoic acids TSB:tryptic soy broth

Atrazine, is one of major concern pesticides contaminating agricultural areas and ground water. Its microbial biodegradation seems to be the most efficient in terms of economic and environmental benefits. In the present work the cometabolic biodegradation of atrazine by the fungus Metarhizum robertsii IM 6519 during 10-day batch cultures was characterized. The herbicide was transformed to several hydroxy-, dechlorinated or dealkylated metabolites with the involvement of cytochrome P450 monooxygenases. The obtained metabolomics data revealed that atrazine induced oxidative stress (increased the levels of L-proline, L-ornithine, L-arginine, GABA and L-methionine), disruptions of the carbon and nitrogen metabolism (L-aspartic acid, L-asparagine, L-tyrosine, L-threonine, L-isoleucine, L-phenylalanine, 1-methyl-L-histidine, L-tryptophan, L-valine, L-alanine, O-phospho-L-serine, L-sarcosine or L-lysine) and caused an increase in the membrane fluidity (a rise in the phosphatidylcholines/phosphatidylethanolamines (PC/PE) ratio together with the growth of the taurine level). The increased level of hydroxyl derivatives of linoleic acid (9-HODE and 13-HODE) confirmed that atrazine induced lipid peroxidation. The presented results suggesting that M. robertsii IM 6519 might be applied in atrazine biodegradation and may bring up the understanding of the process of triazine biodegradation by Metarhizum strains.