Pleurotus ostreatus (the oyster mushroom) and other white rot filamentous basidiomycetes are key players in the global carbon cycle. P. ostreatus is also a commercially important edible fungus with medicinal properties and is important for biotechnological and environmental applications. Efficient gene targeting via homologous recombination (HR) is a fundamental tool for facilitating comprehensive gene function studies. Since the natural HR frequency in Pleurotus transformations is low (2.3%), transformed DNA is predominantly integrated ectopically. To overcome this limitation, a general gene targeting system was developed by producing a P. ostreatus PC9 homokaryon ⌬ku80 strain, using carboxin resistance complemented by the development of a protocol for hygromycin B resistance protoplast-based DNA transformation and homokaryon isolation. The ⌬ku80 strain exhibited exclusive (100%) HR in the integration of transforming DNA, providing a high efficiency of gene targeting. Furthermore, the ⌬ku80 strains produced showed a phenotype similar to that of the wild-type PC9 strain, with similar growth fitness, ligninolytic functionality, and capability of mating with the incompatible strain PC15 to produce a dikaryon which retained its resistance to the corresponding selection and was capable of producing typical fruiting bodies. The applicability of this system is demonstrated by inactivation of the versatile peroxidase (VP) encoded by mnp4. This enzyme is part of the ligninolytic system of P. ostreatus, being one of the nine members of the manganese-peroxidase (MnP) gene family, and is the predominantly expressed VP in Mn 2؉ -deficient media. mnp4 inactivation provided a direct proof that mnp4 encodes a key VP responsible for the Mn 2؉ -dependent and Mn 2؉ -independent peroxidase activity under Mn 2؉ -deficient culture conditions.

Purpose Podcasts have become a main content delivery platform in the last decade. Since not enough studies examined the wider population adoption patterns of podcasts in general and outside the USA in particular, the purpose of this paper is to examine the socio-demographics of podcast listeners and the uses and gratifications fulfilled by listening to podcasts using Israel’s most popular podcast as our case study. Design/methodology/approach The authors uploaded a survey on the podcast platforms aiming to identify their socio-demographic profiles of listeners (n=960) and where they listen to the podcast. Next, the authors conducted follow-up interviews with 100 respondents to understand their main uses and gratifications fulfilled while listening to the podcast. Findings The findings of this survey indicate podcast listeners in Israel as mostly male, with self-reported high income, under the age of 45, highly educated and nearly half work in the high-tech sector. Follow-up interviews identified that the main uses and gratifications from listening to podcasts were cognitive – acquiring new knowledge, social – a desire to share new data with friends, entertainment, hobby and a way to assist falling asleep. Research limitations/implications The findings of this study indicate that access to podcasts in Israel is utilized mostly by members of already advantaged and technology-oriented groups, thus potentially widening existing societal gaps. Originality/value The study examines the podcast adoption in a country whose podcast adoption patterns were not yet explored, thus contributes toward mapping of the global usage of podcasts. It portrays podcasts in Israel as a platform used mostly by members of privileged and technology-oriented groups, which is similar to findings regarding the demographics of podcast listeners in the USA. Some of the uses and gratifications are similar to that in the USA while others, such as the desire to share knowledge and efficient time management, are unique and reflect the impact of the local culture and conditions on podcast adoption.

Finding intracellular pathways and molecules that can prevent the proliferation of colon cancer cells can provide significant bases for developing treatments for this disease. Ostreolysin (Oly) is a protein found in the mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus, and we have produced a recombinant version of this protein (rOly).We measured the viability of several colon cancer cells treated with rOly. Xenografts and syngeneic colon cancer cells were injected into in vivo mouse models, which were then treated with this recombinant protein.rOly treatment induced a significant reduction in viability of human and mouse colon cancer cells. In contrast, there was no reduction in the viability of normal epithelial cells from the small intestine. In the search for cellular targets of rOly, we showed that it enhances the anti-proliferative activity of drugs targeting cellular tubulin. This was accompanied by a reduction in the weight and volume of tumours in mice injected with rOly as compared to their respective control mice in two in vivo models.Our results advance the functional understanding of rOly as a potential anti-cancer treatment associated with pro-apoptotic activities preferentially targeting colon cancer cells.