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Diversity and Ecology of Fungi from Underexplored and Extreme Environments
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Diversity and Ecology of Fungi from Underexplored and Extreme Environments

A special issue of Journal of Fungi (ISSN 2309-608X). This special issue belongs to the section "Fungal Evolution, Biodiversity and Systematics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 July 2024 | Viewed by 7492

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Daniela Isola

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Guest Editor
Department of Economics, Engineering, Society and Business Organization, University of Tuscia, Largo dell’Università snc, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
Interests: applied mycology; biodeterioration; biodegradation; biocides; cultural heritage low-impact cleaning methods; environmental microbiology; fungal diversity
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Francesc Xavier Prenafeta Boldú

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Guest Editor
Program of Sustainability in Biosystems, Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology (IRTA), Torre Marimon, E-08140 Caldes de Montbui, Barcelona, Spain
Interests: circular economy and bioeconomy; environmental biotechnology; extremophilic fungi, environmental microbiology, mycology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Fungi represent a large group of living organisms whose diversity remains largely unknown. Though frequently overlooked, fungi are ubiquitous and can also be found in many environments that are not that prone to life. Evolutionary history of over a billion years has endowed fungi with specific survival strategies for colonising niches where most other organisms don’t thrive. Constraints for life can naturally occur or be tied to human activities, such as environmental pollution and degradation, that reshape the biological features for survival. For this reason, insights into extremotolerant fungal biodiversity, physiology, biochemical adaptations, and interaction with other organisms may help us to rewrite our understanding of the origins and evolution of life on Earth. In the midterm, this knowledge could also represent a springboard for uncovering the vast potential of the many diverse biotechnological applications of fungi to improve the sustainability and quality of human life.

Dr. Daniela Isola
Dr. Francesc Xavier Prenafeta Boldú
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Fungi is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • biological adaptation
  • extremotolerant fungi
  • fungal melanin
  • fungal phylogeny
  • fungal diversity
  • hydrocarbonoclastic fungi
  • marine fungi
  • metallo-tolerant fungi
  • radioresistance/radiotolerance

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

29 pages, 27808 KiB  
Article
Sunken Riches: Ascomycete Diversity in the Western Mediterranean Coast through Direct Plating and Flocculation, and Description of Four New Taxa
by Daniel Guerra-Mateo, José F. Cano-Lira, Ana Fernández-Bravo and Josepa Gené
J. Fungi 2024, 10(4), 281; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof10040281 - 11 Apr 2024
Viewed by 501
Abstract
The Mediterranean Sea stands out as a hotspot of biodiversity, whose fungal composition remains underexplored. Marine sediments represent the most diverse substrate; however, the challenge of recovering fungi in culture hinders the precise identification of this diversity. Concentration techniques like skimmed milk flocculation [...] Read more.
The Mediterranean Sea stands out as a hotspot of biodiversity, whose fungal composition remains underexplored. Marine sediments represent the most diverse substrate; however, the challenge of recovering fungi in culture hinders the precise identification of this diversity. Concentration techniques like skimmed milk flocculation (SMF) could represent a suitable solution. Here, we compare the effectiveness in recovering filamentous ascomycetes of direct plating and SMF in combination with three culture media and two incubation temperatures, and we describe the fungal diversity detected in marine sediments. Sediments were collected at different depths on two beaches (Miracle and Arrabassada) on the Spanish western Mediterranean coast between 2021 and 2022. We recovered 362 strains, and after a morphological selection, 188 were identified primarily with the LSU and ITS barcodes, representing 54 genera and 94 species. Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Scedosporium were the most common genera, with different percentages of abundance between both beaches. Arrabassada Beach was more heterogeneous, with 42 genera representing 60 species (Miracle Beach, 28 genera and 54 species). Although most species were recovered with direct plating (70 species), 20 species were exclusively obtained using SMF as a sample pre-treatment, improving our ability to detect fungi in culture. In addition, we propose three new species in the genera Exophiala, Nigrocephalum, and Queenslandipenidiella, and a fourth representing the novel genus Schizochlamydosporiella. We concluded that SMF is a useful technique that, in combination with direct plating, including different culture media and incubation temperatures, improves the chance of recovering marine fungal communities in culture-dependent studies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diversity and Ecology of Fungi from Underexplored and Extreme Environments)
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17 pages, 1056 KiB  
Article
A New Genus of the Microascaceae (Ascomycota) Family from a Hypersaline Lagoon in Spain and the Delimitation of the Genus Wardomyces
by María Barnés-Guirado, Alberto Miguel Stchigel and José Francisco Cano-Lira
J. Fungi 2024, 10(4), 236; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof10040236 - 22 Mar 2024
Viewed by 750
Abstract
The Saladas de Sástago-Bujaraloz is an endorheic and arheic complex of lagoons located in the Ebro Basin and protected by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. Due to the semi-arid climate of the region and the high salinity of their waters, these lagoons constitute [...] Read more.
The Saladas de Sástago-Bujaraloz is an endorheic and arheic complex of lagoons located in the Ebro Basin and protected by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. Due to the semi-arid climate of the region and the high salinity of their waters, these lagoons constitute an extreme environment. We surveyed the biodiversity of salt-tolerant and halophilic fungi residents of the Laguna de Pito, a lagoon belonging to this complex. Therefore, we collected several samples of water, sediments, and soil of the periphery. Throughout the study, we isolated 21 fungal species, including a strain morphologically related to the family Microascaceae. However, this strain did not morphologically match any of genera within this family. After an in-depth morphological characterization and phylogenetic analysis using a concatenated sequence dataset of four phylogenetically informative molecular markers (the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS) of the nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA); the D1-D2 domains of the 28S gene of the nuclear ribosomal RNA (LSU); and a fragment of the translation elongation factor 1-alpha (EF-1α) and the β-tubulin (tub2) genes), we established the new genus Dactyliodendromyces, with Dactyliodendromyces holomorphus as its species. Additionally, as a result of our taxonomic study, we reclassified the paraphyletic genus Wardomyces into three different genera: Wardomyces sensu stricto, Parawardomyces gen. nov., and Pseudowardomyces gen. nov., with Parawardomyces ovalis (formerly Wardomyces ovalis) and Pseudowardomyces humicola (formerly Wardomyces humicola) as the type species of their respective genera. Furthermore, we propose new combinations, including Parawardomyces giganteus (formerly Wardomyces giganteus) and Pseudowardomyces pulvinatus (formerly Wardomyces pulvinatus). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diversity and Ecology of Fungi from Underexplored and Extreme Environments)
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32 pages, 17281 KiB  
Article
Diversity of Rock-Inhabiting Fungi in Tarragona Province, Spain
by Angie Paola Sastoque, José Francisco Cano-Lira and Alberto Miguel Stchigel
J. Fungi 2024, 10(3), 170; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof10030170 - 22 Feb 2024
Viewed by 1055
Abstract
Rock-inhabiting fungi (RIF) are usually extremely tolerant or extremophilic, as they can survive on natural and artificial rocks despite being exposed to stressful conditions. RIF have serious negative effects on the appearance and cohesion of rocky substrates, causing the alteration and decomposition of [...] Read more.
Rock-inhabiting fungi (RIF) are usually extremely tolerant or extremophilic, as they can survive on natural and artificial rocks despite being exposed to stressful conditions. RIF have serious negative effects on the appearance and cohesion of rocky substrates, causing the alteration and decomposition of building materials, but also on human and animal health, as they can act as opportunistic pathogens. Their identification is therefore of great importance, especially in urban areas. In the present study, culturing techniques for isolating fungi, and a polyphasic taxonomic approach to their identification, were used to assess the diversity of micromycetes that darken the surfaces of buildings in various villages and cities in Tarragona Province (Spain). Sixty-four species of RIF belonging to forty-one genera were identified, including a new genus (Coccodomyces) and the following six new fungal species: Coccodomyces pleiosporus, Exophiala caementiphila, Exophiala multiformis, Neocatenulostroma spinulosum, Neodevriesia longicatenispora, and Paradevriesia holothallica. Thus, we have established that building materials are ecological niches where a high biodiversity of RIF can develop. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diversity and Ecology of Fungi from Underexplored and Extreme Environments)
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18 pages, 3158 KiB  
Article
The Metallotolerance and Biosorption of As(V) and Cr(VI) by Black Fungi
by Cristy Medina-Armijo, Daniela Isola, Josep Illa, Anna Puerta, Marc Viñas and Francesc X. Prenafeta-Boldú
J. Fungi 2024, 10(1), 47; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof10010047 - 05 Jan 2024
Viewed by 960
Abstract
A collection of 34 melanized fungi isolated previously from anthropogenic contaminated sites were assessed for their tolerance to toxic concentrations of As(V) and Cr(VI) anions. Three strains of the species Cyphellophora olivacea, Rhinocladiella similis, and Exophiala mesophila (Chaetothyriales) were identified as [...] Read more.
A collection of 34 melanized fungi isolated previously from anthropogenic contaminated sites were assessed for their tolerance to toxic concentrations of As(V) and Cr(VI) anions. Three strains of the species Cyphellophora olivacea, Rhinocladiella similis, and Exophiala mesophila (Chaetothyriales) were identified as hyper-metallotolerant, with estimated IC50 values that ranged from 11.2 to 16.9 g L−1 for As(V) and from 2.0 to 3.4 g L−1 for Cr(VI). E. mesophila and R. similis were selected for subsequent assays on their biosorption capacity and kinetics under different pH values (4.0 and 6.5) and types of biomass (active and dead cells and melanin extracts). The fungal biosorption of As(V) was relatively ineffective, but significant removal of Cr(VI) was observed from liquid cultures. The Langmuir model with second-order kinetics showed maximum sorption capacities of 39.81 mg Cr6+ g−1 for R. similis and 95.26 mg Cr6+ g−1 for E. mesophila on a dry matter basis, respectively, while the kinetic constant for these two fungi was 1.32 × 10−6 and 1.39 × 10−7 g (mg Cr6+ min)−1. Similar experiments with melanin extracts of E. mesophila showed maximum sorption capacities of 544.84 mg Cr6+ g−1 and a kinetic constant of 1.67 × 10−6 g (mg Cr6+ min)−1. These results were compared to bibliographic data, suggesting that metallotolerance in black fungi might be the result of an outer cell-wall barrier to reduce the diffusion of toxic metals into the cytoplasm, as well as the inner cell wall biosorption of leaked metals by melanin. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diversity and Ecology of Fungi from Underexplored and Extreme Environments)
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19 pages, 2863 KiB  
Article
A Deep Insight into the Diversity of Microfungal Communities in Arctic and Antarctic Lakes
by Alessia Marchetta, Maria Papale, Alessandro Ciro Rappazzo, Carmen Rizzo, Antonio Camacho, Carlos Rochera, Maurizio Azzaro, Clara Urzì, Angelina Lo Giudice and Filomena De Leo
J. Fungi 2023, 9(11), 1095; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof9111095 - 09 Nov 2023
Viewed by 1405
Abstract
We assessed fungal diversity in water and sediment samples obtained from five Arctic lakes in Ny-Ålesund (Svalbard Islands, High Arctic) and five Antarctic lakes on Livingston and Deception Islands (South Shetland Islands), using DNA metabarcoding. A total of 1,639,074 fungal DNA reads were [...] Read more.
We assessed fungal diversity in water and sediment samples obtained from five Arctic lakes in Ny-Ålesund (Svalbard Islands, High Arctic) and five Antarctic lakes on Livingston and Deception Islands (South Shetland Islands), using DNA metabarcoding. A total of 1,639,074 fungal DNA reads were detected and assigned to 5980 ASVs amplicon sequence variants (ASVs), with only 102 (1.7%) that were shared between the two Polar regions. For Arctic lakes, unknown fungal taxa dominated the sequence assemblages, suggesting the dominance of possibly undescribed fungi. The phylum Chytridiomycota was the most represented in the majority of Arctic and Antarctic samples, followed by Rozellomycota, Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, and the less frequent Monoblepharomycota, Aphelidiomycota, Mortierellomycota, Mucoromycota, and Neocallimastigomycota. At the genus level, the most abundant genera included psychrotolerant and cosmopolitan cold-adapted fungi including Alternaria, Cladosporium, Cadophora, Ulvella (Ascomycota), Leucosporidium, Vishniacozyma (Basidiomycota), and Betamyces (Chytridiomycota). The assemblages displayed high diversity and richness. The assigned diversity was composed mainly of taxa recognized as saprophytic fungi, followed by pathogenic and symbiotic fungi. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diversity and Ecology of Fungi from Underexplored and Extreme Environments)
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19 pages, 1820 KiB  
Article
Genotypic and Phenotypic Diversity of Kluyveromyces marxianus Isolates Obtained from the Elaboration Process of Two Traditional Mexican Alcoholic Beverages Derived from Agave: Pulque and Henequen (Agave fourcroydes) Mezcal
by Patricia Lappe-Oliveras, Morena Avitia, Sara Darinka Sánchez-Robledo, Ana Karina Castillo-Plata, Lorena Pedraza, Guillermo Baquerizo and Sylvie Le Borgne
J. Fungi 2023, 9(8), 795; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof9080795 - 28 Jul 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1695
Abstract
Seven Kluyveromyces marxianus isolates from the elaboration process of pulque and henequen mezcal were characterized. The isolates were identified based on the sequences of the D1/D2 domain of the 26S rRNA gene and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS-5.8S) region. Genetic differences were found [...] Read more.
Seven Kluyveromyces marxianus isolates from the elaboration process of pulque and henequen mezcal were characterized. The isolates were identified based on the sequences of the D1/D2 domain of the 26S rRNA gene and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS-5.8S) region. Genetic differences were found between pulque and henequen mezcal isolates and within henequen mezcal isolates, as shown by different branching patterns in the ITS-5.8S phylogenetic tree and (GTG)5 microsatellite profiles, suggesting that the substrate and process selective conditions may give rise to different K. marxianus populations. All the isolates fermented and assimilated inulin and lactose and some henequen isolates could also assimilate xylose and cellobiose. Henequen isolates were more thermotolerant than pulque ones, which, in contrast, presented more tolerance to the cell wall-disturbing agent calcofluor white (CFW), suggesting that they had different cell wall structures. Additionally, depending on their origin, the isolates presented different maximum specific growth rate (µmax) patterns at different temperatures. Concerning tolerance to stress factors relevant for lignocellulosic hydrolysates fermentation, their tolerance limits were lower at 42 than 30 °C, except for glucose and furfural. Pulque isolates were less tolerant to ethanol, NaCl, and Cd. Finally, all the isolates could produce ethanol by simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) of a corncob hydrolysate under laboratory conditions at 42 °C. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diversity and Ecology of Fungi from Underexplored and Extreme Environments)
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