Occurrence of Soil Fungi in Antarctic Pristine Environments

Simple item page
datacite.alternateIdentifier.citationFrontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 7, 2019
datacite.alternateIdentifier.doi10.3389/fbioe.2019.00028
datacite.alternateIdentifier.issn2296-4185
datacite.creatorDuran, Paola
datacite.creatorBarra, Patricio J.
datacite.creatorJorquera, Milko A.
datacite.creatorViscardi, Sharon
datacite.creatorFernandez, Camila
datacite.creatorPaz, Cristian
datacite.creatorde la Luz Mora, Maria
datacite.creatorBol, Roland
datacite.date2019
datacite.rightsAcceso Abierto
datacite.subjectAntártida
datacite.subjectComunidad Fúngica
datacite.subjectÍndice de Biodiversidad
datacite.subjectAmbiente Extremo
datacite.subjectDesierto Frío
datacite.subject.englishAntarctica
datacite.subject.englishfungal community
datacite.subject.englishbiodiversity index
datacite.subject.englishextreme environment
datacite.subject.englishcold desert
datacite.titleOccurrence of Soil Fungi in Antarctic Pristine Environments
dc.date.accessioned2025-08-06T18:22:41Z
dc.date.available2025-08-06T18:22:41Z
dc.description.abstractThe presence of fungi in pristine Antarctic soils is of particular interest because of the diversity of this microbial group. However, the extreme conditions that coexist in Antarctica produce a strong selective pressure that could lead to the evolution of novel mechanisms for stress tolerance by indigenous microorganisms. For this reason, in recent years, research on cold-adapted microorganisms has increased, driven by their potential value for applications in biotechnology. Cold-adapted fungi, in particular, have become important sources for the discovery of novel bioactive secondary metabolites and enzymes. In this study, we studied the fungal community structure of 12 soil samples from Antarctic sites, including King George Island (including Collins Glacier), Deception Island and Robert Island. Culturable fungi were isolated and described according to their morphological and phenotypical characteristics, and the richness index was compared with soil chemical properties to describe the fungal community and associated environmental parameters. We isolated 54 fungal strains belonging to the following 19 genera: Penicillium, Pseudogymnoascus, Lambertella, Cadophora, Candida, Mortierella, Oxygenales, Geomyces, Vishniacozyma, Talaromyces, Rhizopus, Antarctomyces, Cosmospora, Tetracladium, Leptosphaeria, Lecanicillium, Thelebolus, Bjerkandera and an uncultured Zygomycete. The isolated fungi were comprised of 70% Ascomycota, 10% Zygomycota, 10% Basidiomycota, 5% Deuteromycota and 5% Mucoromycota, highlighting that most strains were associated with similar genera grown in cold environments. Among the culturable strains, 55% were psychrotrophic and 45% were psychrophilic, and most were Ascomycetes occurring in their teleomorph forms. Soils from the Collins Glacier showed less species richness and greater species dominance compared with the rest of the sites, whereas samples 4, 7, and 10 (from Fildes Bay, Coppermine Peninsula and Arctowski Station, respectively) showed greater species richness and less species dominance. Species richness was related to the C/N ratio, whereas species dominance was inversely related to C and N content. Thus, the structure of the fungal community was mainly related to soil chemical parameters more than sample location and altitude.
dc.formatPDF
dc.identifier.issn2296-4185
dc.identifier.urihttps://repositoriodigital.uct.cl/handle/10925/6504
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherFrontiers Media
dc.rightsObra bajo licencia Creative Commons Atribución 4.0 Internacional
dc.rights.licensehttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.sourceFrontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology
dspace.entity.typePublication
oaire.citationEdition2019
oaire.citationTitleFrontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology
oaire.citationVolume7
oaire.fundingReferenceInstituto Antártico Chileno - INACH
oaire.resourceTypeArtículo
oaire.resourceType.enArticle
uct.catalogadorjvu
uct.comunidadCiencias de la Saluden_US
uct.departamentoDepartamento de Procesos Diagnósticos y Evaluación
uct.facultadFacultad de Ciencias de la Salud
uct.indizacionScience Citation Index Expanded - SCIE
uct.indizacionSCOPUS
uct.indizacionWOS
uct.indizacionDOAJ
uct.indizacionPubMed
Files
Collections
Procesos Diagnósticos y Evaluación