Coccidioidomycosis is an infectious fungal disease endemic in Bolivia's Gran Chaco region that is caused by inspiration of the spores of Coccidiodes species. It is a respiratory pathology that can spread to the skeleton and produce diffuse lytic lesions in different parts of the body. This disease has rarely been described in historic populations, and we present here a new case of coccidioidomycosis in a mummified human individual. It corresponds to a female individual with an age at death of 25–35 years, dated to the Tiwanaku epoch of the thirteenth century AD. It was found inside a sepulchral cave near the city of Ulloma in western Bolivia. Radiographic examination shows numerous osseous lytic lesions with central cavitation concentrated on the cranial table and vertebral bodies. The observed condition could correspond to the secondary phase of coccidioidomycosis. This diagnosis is noteworthy because coccidioidomycosis was mainly described as a male work-related disease and has never been found in ancient western Bolivia.

In the present study, the susceptibility of different developmental stages (eggs, larvae, protonymphs, deutonymphs and adults) of Tetranychus urticae Koch to the entomopathogenic fungi Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo-Crivelli) Vuillemin and Metarhizium anisopliae (Metchnikoff) Sorokin was evaluated in the laboratory. At each developmental stage, four concentrations (3 × 105, 1 × 106, 3 × 106 and 1 × 107 conidia/ml) of both fungi were sprayed. Egg viability and motile-stage mortality varied among the fungal isolates and conidial concentrations. The highest conidial concentration (1 × 107 conidia/ml) significantly reduced the viability of eggs and increased the mortality of motile stages. However, deutonymphs and adults were more susceptible to fungal infection than larvae and protonymphs. The lethal concentration values to 50% (LC50) and 90% mortality (LC90) varied with the fungal isolates and developmental stages. The results show the prospects of B. bassiana and M. anisopliae for the control of T. urticae.

Given the worldwide decline of amphibian populations due to emerging infectious diseases, it is imperative that we identify and address the causative agents. Many of the pathogens recently implicated in amphibian mortality and morbidity have been fungal or members of a poorly understood group of fungus-like protists, the mesomycetozoans. One mesomycetozoan, Amphibiocystidium ranae, is known to infect several European amphibian species and was associated with a recent decline of frogs in Italy. Here we present the first report of an Amphibiocystidium sp. in a North American amphibian, the Eastern red-spotted newt (Notophthalmus viridescens), and characterize it as the new species A. viridescens in the order Dermocystida based on morphological, geographical and phylogenetic evidence. We also describe the widespread and seasonal distribution of this parasite in red-spotted newt populations and provide evidence of mortality due to infection.

Aim: To evaluate the criteria for diagnosing allergic fungal sinusitis and to maintain permanent drainage and ventilation, while preserving the integrity of mucosa. Methods: This is a prospective study of 251 patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with or without polyposis, of whom 199 were treated surgically. Mucus sample collection, nasal secretion culture, surgical specimen handling and histological evaluation of surgical specimens are described. The management included wide local endoscopic sinus debridement, adequate sinus aeration, post-operative use of steroids and antifungal therapy. Results: Fungal cultures of nasal secretions were positive in 201 (80.01 per cent) of 251 patients. Of the 199 surgical cases, fungal elements were found in 156 histological specimens (62.1 per cent). Allergic mucin was found in 182 patients (91.45 per cent). Nasal obstruction and proptosis were the commonest presentations. All pre-operative versus post-operative changes in AFS-associated complaints reached statistical significance of p < 0.001. The ethmoid sinus was commonly involved with adjacent lamina papyracea exhibiting demineralization in 26.6 per cent of cases. Intracranial extension was seen in 15 cases. Recurrence was noted in 11 cases. Conclusion: Comprehensive treatment with endoscopic sinus surgery, steroids and antifungal therapy is needed. AFS is readily recurrent. Long-term follow up is important.

In previously reported laboratory experiments, infection of Rumex obtusifolius by the rust fungus Uromyces rumicis was decreased on leaves which had prior herbivory by the beetle Gastrophysa viridula. In this paper we investigate whether this interaction is robust for natural infection by a variety of fungi in field experiments carried out in spring and autumn with plants given different levels of nitrogen fertilization. Grazing by G. viridula led to a decrease in lesion density of Ramularia rubella and Venturia rumicis in the spring and V. rumicis and U. rumicis in the autumn experiment. For V. rumicis and U. rumicis significant reductions in lesion density occurred on the undamaged leaves of damaged plants, compared with similar leaves on undamaged plants, suggesting systemic induced resistance. This induced resistance was usually independent of the amount of nitrogen fertilization, although the inhibitory effect of grazing on R. rubella in the spring and V. rumicis in the autumn experiment was enhanced by increasing nitrogen fertilization and was inhibited by increasing nitrogen fertilization for V. rumicis in the spring. In both experiments, the lesion density of V. rumicis was greater on leaves on which R. rubella was also present, and the presence of U. rumicis in the autumn experiment was linked to a similar but greater effect on V. rumicis lesion density. We found no evidence of induced resistance by fungi against fungi in these experiments. We highlight the complex interactions between inhibitory and facilitatory processes acting on leaf fungal infection. These results are compared with the proposed molecular mechanisms of induced resistance(s) and we consider the benefits of closer integration between molecular and ecological investigations of induced resistances that occur in the field.

Fungal infections in both their invasive and non-invasive forms can prove difficult to diagnose. The often characteristic appearances on imaging are of great assistance. CT is the primary imaging modality and is probably more accurate than MRI in diagnostic specificity and determining the extent of bone erosion. However this may require a modified scanning technique to adequately demonstrate the typical soft tissue density variations of fungi. MRI should be used to supplement CT when intra-cranial or intra-orbital extension is suspected.