Urospermum picroides is a medicinal plant was founded in North coast, Egypt. Endophytic fungi of this medicinal plant in Egypt is poorly known and thus, this study aimed towards estimation of the biological activities of endophytic fungi from Egyptian U.picroides. Fusarium oxysporum and Phoma herbarum were isolated from U.picroides and identified based on phylogenetic analysis. Ethyl acetate extracts of F.oxysporum and P.herbarum gave high antioxidant activities (26.2 and 51.7%, respectively). Moreover, they showed highly antitumor activities with some significant morphological changes of characteristic apoptosis accompanied by up regulation of both p53 and Bax for F.oxysporum and P.herbarum extracts (1.55, 2.14 for p53 and 1.24, 2.2 for Bax, respectively) with down regulation of Bcl-2 (0.18 and 0.16, respectively). Ethyl acetate extract of F.oxysporum (EAFE) showed greatest antimicrobial activity against Trichophyton mentagrophytes (70 mm), while ethyl acetate extract of P.herbarum (EAPE) showed highest antimicrobial activity against Bacillus cereus (37 mm) and Candida albicans (35 mm). Scanning electron microscope micrographs showed major abnormalities for tested microorganisms after treatment with (EAFE and EAPE) resulting in complete alternation in their morphology. GC-MS results showed 30 biologically active compounds for both extracts. The most significant in EAFE was Diisooctyl phthalate with relative levels (74.9%), while Benzoic acid, 3, 5-bis (1, 1-dimethylethyl)-4-hydroxy-was the most active compound in EAPE (61.7%). These results proposed that ethyl acetate extracts of endophytic fungi from the Egyptian U.picroides showed to be promising novel as antioxidant, antitumor agents and antimicrobial with further phytochemical studies.

Background Energy is the basis and assurance for a world's stable development; however, as traditional non-renewable energy sources deplete, the development and study of renewable clean energy have emerged. Using microalgae as a carbon source for anaerobic bacteria to generate biohydrogen is a clean energy generation system that both local and global peers see as promising. Results Klebsiella pneumonia, Enterobacter cloacae, and their coculture were used to synthesize biohydrogen using Oscillatoria acuminata biomass via dark fermentation. The total carbohydrate content in O. acuminata was 237.39 mg/L. To enhance the content of fermentable reducing sugars, thermochemical, biological, and biological with magnesium zinc ferrite nanoparticles (Mg-Zn Fe2O4-NPs) pretreatments were applied. Crude hydrolytic enzymes extracted from Trichoderma harzianum of biological pretreatment were enhanced by Mg-Zn Fe2O4-NPs and significantly increased reducing sugars (230.48 mg/g) four times than thermochemical pretreatment (45.34 mg/g). K. pneumonia demonstrated a greater accumulated hydrogen level (1022 mLH2/L) than E. cloacae (813 mLH2/L), while their coculture showed superior results (1520 mLH2/L) and shortened the production time to 48 h instead of 72 h in single culture pretreatments. Biological pretreatment + Mg-Zn Fe2O4 NPs using coculture significantly stimulated hydrogen yield (3254 mLH2/L), hydrogen efficiency)216.9 mL H2/g reducing sugar( and hydrogen production rate (67.7 mL/L/h) to the maximum among all pretreatments. Conclusion These results confirm the effectiveness of biological treatments + Mg-Zn Fe2O4-NPs and coculture dark fermentation in upregulating biohydrogen production.

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In the present study, twenty-seven fungal species were isolated, purified, and identified from five mixed soil samples collected from Tanta City, Gharbia Governorate, Egypt. The isolated fungal species belonging to nine genera i.e., Aspergillus, Cephalosporium, Fusarium, Penicillium, Botritrichom, Trichoderma, Alternaria, Cladosporium and Scopulariopsis, in addition to two white rot fungi Ganoderma lucidum and Lentinula edodes obtained from Mushroom Laboratory Culture Collection (MLCC), El-Giza, Egypt. The ligninolytic activities of the isolated fungi were evaluated on PDA plates containing 0.02% guaiacol as a chromogenic reagent. Out of the twenty-nine fungal species tested, only three fungi G. lucidum, L. edodes and T. harzianum (isolate 2) showed ligninolytic potential and reddish-brown color zone formed due to guaiacol oxidation. The three positive fungal strains were screened quantitively for Laccase (Lac; E.C. 1.10.3.2), Manganese dependent peroxidase (MnP; E.C. 1.11.1.13), and Lignin peroxidase (LiP; E.C. 1.11.1.14) activities. The highest total ligninase activity was recorded by G. lucidum followed by L. edodes and T. harzianum, respectively.