Production of mannitol by fungi from cotton dust.
Cotton dust associated with high pulmonary function decrements contains relatively high levels of mannitol. In this study, cotton leaf and bract tissue and dust isolated from cotton leaf tissue were examined by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and capillary gas chromatography. Alternaria alternata, Cladosporium herbarum, Epicoccum purpurascens, and Fusarium pallidoroseum were isolated from cotton leaf dust. The fungal samples, cotton dust, and cotton leaf contained mannitol. This study demonstrates that fungi from a late-fall harvest of cotton leaf material produce mannitol and are a probable source of the mannitol found in cotton dust.
Domelsmith
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Southern Regional Research Center, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, P. O. Box 19687, New Orleans, Louisiana 70179.
Klich
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Goynes
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