Diversity of Antarctic microfungi
| Authors | |
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| Year of publication | 2008 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | The Antarctic mycobiota is diversified depending on different climatic regions of the continent and substrate. Most Antarctic microfungi are cosmopolitan, transported to Antarctica. The others, termed indigenous, are well adapted to low temperatures, water availability, composition of nutrient substrate. The purpose of this research is to study the diversity of Antarctic fungi from material collected at the deglaciated area of Ulu Peninsula, place of the Czech Antarctic station of Johann Gregor Mendel at James Ross Island. All materials were collected in February 2007. Fifty strains of filamentous fungi were isolated from 25 samples. Most of the isolates have represented anamorphic fungi classified into three morphological groups: twenty-four isolates were recognized as Hyphomycetes, nine isolates as Coelomycetes and ten isolates shared inability to express diagnostic characters and were grouped as Agonomycetes. Additional four isolates were fungi of the phylum Zygomycota and remaining two isolates belonged to the phylum Ascomycota. One strain of the last group was idetified as Thelebolus microsporus. Moreover, we have obtained one isolate of black meristematic fungus - Friedmanniomyces endolithicus. F. endolithicus is true member of Antarctic cryptoendolithic communities, very well adapted to cope with unfavourable conditions. Hyphomycetes have appeared to be dominant mycobiota both ecological niches of the Ulu Peninsula. 46% of all isolates of Hyphomycetes represented genus Cladosporium. Cladosporium herbarum was the most frequently found species in the niche with cold climate. The other species belonging to the genera Mortierella, Geomyces and Cladosporium were present at both sampling sites. Soil crusts were associated mainly by cosmopolitan species with mesophilic-psychrotolerant behaviour during Antarctic summer. Only two species were typical psychrophilic fungi: F. endolithicus and T. microsporus. |
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