Channeling of vanadium in two species of fungi

Aspergillus flavus and Penicillium italicum were cultivated on Dox medium amended with different concentrations of a vanadium salt; vanadium pentoxide (V2O5). The fungal isolates were found to absorb considerable quantities of vanadium. Fungal contents of carbohydrates and proteins were decreased by the presence of vanadium in the growth environment. Vanadium was incorporated into several types of low and high molecular weight protein(s) and peptides. In case of P. italicum, lysine, tyrosine, glycine, methionine, valine, alanine, proline, glutamic acid and histidine were detected in the fungal cell free extract. While in case of A. flavus, the following amino acids were detected: cystine, methionine, leucine, phenylalanine, glycine, alanine, tyrosine, lysine, histidine, arginine and valine.