Edible Ectomycorrhizal Mushrooms: Biofactories for Sustainable Development

The global burden of cancer continues to increase largely because of the aging and growth of the world population alongside an increasing adoption of cancer-causing behaviors, particularly smoking, in economically developing countries. Based on the GLOBOCAN 2008 estimates, about 12.7 million cancer cases and 7.6 million cancer deaths are estimated to have occurred in 2008; of these, 56% of the cases and 64% of the deaths occurred in the economically developing world. Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer death among females, accounting for 23% of the total cancer cases and 14% of the cancer deaths. Lung cancer is the leading cancer site in males, comprising 17% of the total new cancer cases and 23% of the total cancer deaths. Breast cancer is now also the leading cause of cancer death among females in economically developing countries, a shift from the previous decade during which the most common cause of cancer death was cervical cancer. Further, the mortality burden for lung cancer among females in developing countries is as high as the burden for cervical cancer, with each accounting for 11% of the total female cancer deaths. Although overall cancer incidence rates in the developing world are half those seen in the developed world in both sexes, the overall cancer mortality rates are generally similar. Cancer survival tends to be poorer in developing countries, most likely because of a combination of a late stage at diagnosis and limited access to timely and standard treatment. A substantial proportion of the worldwide burden of cancer could be prevented through the application of existing cancer control knowledge and by implementing programs for tobacco control, vaccination (for liver and cervical cancers), and early detection and treatment, as well as public health campaigns promoting physical activity and a healthier dietary intake. Clinicians, public health professionals, and policy makers can play an active role in accelerating the application of such interventions globally.

Progress towards understanding the extent to which mycorrhizal fungi are involved in the mobilization of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) from natural substrates is reviewed here. While mycorrhiza research has emphasized the role of the symbiosis in facilitation of capture of these nutrients in ionic form, attention has shifted since the mid-1980s to analysing the mycorrhizal fungal abilities to release N and P from the detrital materials of microbial faunal and plant origins, which are the primary sources of these elements in terrestrial ecosystems. Ericoid, and some ectomycorrhizal fungi have the potential to be directly involved in attack both on structural polymers, which may render nutrients inaccessible, and in mobilization of N and P from the organic polymers in which they are sequestered. The advantages to the plant of achieving intervention in the microbial mobilization-immobilization cycles are stressed. While the new approaches may initially lack the precision achieved in studies of readily characterized ionic forms of N and P, they do provide insights of greater ecological relevance. The results support the hypothesis that selection has favoured ericoid and ectomycorrhizal systems with well developed saprotrophic capabilities in those ecosystems characterized by retention of N and P as organic complexes in the soil. The need for further investigation of the abilities of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi to intervene in nutrient mobilization processes is stressed.

Over the last decade, an abundance of evidence has emerged demonstrating a close link between metabolism and immunity. It is now clear that obesity is associated with a state of chronic low-level inflammation. In this article, we discuss the molecular and cellular underpinnings of obesity-induced inflammation and the signaling pathways at the intersection of metabolism and inflammation that contribute to diabetes. We also consider mechanisms through which the inflammatory response may be initiated and discuss the reasons for the inflammatory response in obesity. We put forth for consideration some hypotheses regarding important unanswered questions in the field and suggest a model for the integration of inflammatory and metabolic pathways in metabolic disease.