Antarctic Glacial Meltwater Impacts the Diversity of Fungal Parasites Associated With Benthic Diatoms in Shallow Coastal Zones
Aquatic ecosystems are frequently overlooked as fungal habitats, although there is increasing evidence that their diversity and ecological importance are greater than previously considered. Aquatic fungi are critical and abundant components of nutrient cycling and food web dynamics, e.g., exerting t...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:5ad65dcf5f1048698fb9907916d8053c 2023-05-15T13:34:50+02:00 Antarctic Glacial Meltwater Impacts the Diversity of Fungal Parasites Associated With Benthic Diatoms in Shallow Coastal Zones Doris Ilicic Jason Woodhouse Ulf Karsten Jonas Zimmermann Thomas Wichard Maria Liliana Quartino Gabriela Laura Campana Alexandra Livenets Silke Van den Wyngaert Hans-Peter Grossart 2022-03-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2022.805694 https://doaj.org/article/5ad65dcf5f1048698fb9907916d8053c EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.805694/full https://doaj.org/toc/1664-302X 1664-302X doi:10.3389/fmicb.2022.805694 https://doaj.org/article/5ad65dcf5f1048698fb9907916d8053c Frontiers in Microbiology, Vol 13 (2022) Antarctica aquatic fungi Chytridiomycota phytoplankton host salinity gradient Illumina amplicon sequencing Microbiology QR1-502 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2022.805694 2022-12-31T10:16:15Z Aquatic ecosystems are frequently overlooked as fungal habitats, although there is increasing evidence that their diversity and ecological importance are greater than previously considered. Aquatic fungi are critical and abundant components of nutrient cycling and food web dynamics, e.g., exerting top-down control on phytoplankton communities and forming symbioses with many marine microorganisms. However, their relevance for microphytobenthic communities is almost unexplored. In the light of global warming, polar regions face extreme changes in abiotic factors with a severe impact on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Therefore, this study aimed to describe, for the first time, fungal diversity in Antarctic benthic habitats along the salinity gradient and to determine the co-occurrence of fungal parasites with their algal hosts, which were dominated by benthic diatoms. Our results reveal that Ascomycota and Chytridiomycota are the most abundant fungal taxa in these habitats. We show that also in Antarctic waters, salinity has a major impact on shaping not just fungal but rather the whole eukaryotic community composition, with a diversity of aquatic fungi increasing as salinity decreases. Moreover, we determined correlations between putative fungal parasites and potential benthic diatom hosts, highlighting the need for further systematic analysis of fungal diversity along with studies on taxonomy and ecological roles of Chytridiomycota. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Antarctic Frontiers in Microbiology 13 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Antarctica aquatic fungi Chytridiomycota phytoplankton host salinity gradient Illumina amplicon sequencing Microbiology QR1-502 |
spellingShingle |
Antarctica aquatic fungi Chytridiomycota phytoplankton host salinity gradient Illumina amplicon sequencing Microbiology QR1-502 Doris Ilicic Jason Woodhouse Ulf Karsten Jonas Zimmermann Thomas Wichard Maria Liliana Quartino Gabriela Laura Campana Alexandra Livenets Silke Van den Wyngaert Hans-Peter Grossart Antarctic Glacial Meltwater Impacts the Diversity of Fungal Parasites Associated With Benthic Diatoms in Shallow Coastal Zones |
topic_facet |
Antarctica aquatic fungi Chytridiomycota phytoplankton host salinity gradient Illumina amplicon sequencing Microbiology QR1-502 |
description |
Aquatic ecosystems are frequently overlooked as fungal habitats, although there is increasing evidence that their diversity and ecological importance are greater than previously considered. Aquatic fungi are critical and abundant components of nutrient cycling and food web dynamics, e.g., exerting top-down control on phytoplankton communities and forming symbioses with many marine microorganisms. However, their relevance for microphytobenthic communities is almost unexplored. In the light of global warming, polar regions face extreme changes in abiotic factors with a severe impact on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Therefore, this study aimed to describe, for the first time, fungal diversity in Antarctic benthic habitats along the salinity gradient and to determine the co-occurrence of fungal parasites with their algal hosts, which were dominated by benthic diatoms. Our results reveal that Ascomycota and Chytridiomycota are the most abundant fungal taxa in these habitats. We show that also in Antarctic waters, salinity has a major impact on shaping not just fungal but rather the whole eukaryotic community composition, with a diversity of aquatic fungi increasing as salinity decreases. Moreover, we determined correlations between putative fungal parasites and potential benthic diatom hosts, highlighting the need for further systematic analysis of fungal diversity along with studies on taxonomy and ecological roles of Chytridiomycota. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Doris Ilicic Jason Woodhouse Ulf Karsten Jonas Zimmermann Thomas Wichard Maria Liliana Quartino Gabriela Laura Campana Alexandra Livenets Silke Van den Wyngaert Hans-Peter Grossart |
author_facet |
Doris Ilicic Jason Woodhouse Ulf Karsten Jonas Zimmermann Thomas Wichard Maria Liliana Quartino Gabriela Laura Campana Alexandra Livenets Silke Van den Wyngaert Hans-Peter Grossart |
author_sort |
Doris Ilicic |
title |
Antarctic Glacial Meltwater Impacts the Diversity of Fungal Parasites Associated With Benthic Diatoms in Shallow Coastal Zones |
title_short |
Antarctic Glacial Meltwater Impacts the Diversity of Fungal Parasites Associated With Benthic Diatoms in Shallow Coastal Zones |
title_full |
Antarctic Glacial Meltwater Impacts the Diversity of Fungal Parasites Associated With Benthic Diatoms in Shallow Coastal Zones |
title_fullStr |
Antarctic Glacial Meltwater Impacts the Diversity of Fungal Parasites Associated With Benthic Diatoms in Shallow Coastal Zones |
title_full_unstemmed |
Antarctic Glacial Meltwater Impacts the Diversity of Fungal Parasites Associated With Benthic Diatoms in Shallow Coastal Zones |
title_sort |
antarctic glacial meltwater impacts the diversity of fungal parasites associated with benthic diatoms in shallow coastal zones |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2022.805694 https://doaj.org/article/5ad65dcf5f1048698fb9907916d8053c |
geographic |
Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica |
op_source |
Frontiers in Microbiology, Vol 13 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.805694/full https://doaj.org/toc/1664-302X 1664-302X doi:10.3389/fmicb.2022.805694 https://doaj.org/article/5ad65dcf5f1048698fb9907916d8053c |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2022.805694 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Microbiology |
container_volume |
13 |
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1766058356425883648 |