Data_Sheet_1_Occurrence of Soil Fungi in Antarctic Pristine Environments.PDF

• Main Authors: Paola Durán, Patricio J. Barra, Milko A. Jorquera, Sharon Viscardi, Camila Fernandez, Cristian Paz, María de la Luz Mora, Roland Bol
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2019
• Subjects: Biotechnology; Biological Engineering; Genetic Engineering; Biomarkers; Biomaterials; Biomechanical Engineering; Biomedical Engineering not elsewhere classified; Synthetic Biology; Agricultural Marine Biotechnology; Bioremediation; Bioprocessing; Bioproduction and Bioproducts; Industrial Biotechnology Diagnostics (incl. Biosensors); Industrial Microbiology (incl. Biofeedstocks); Industrial Molecular Engineering of Nucleic Acids and Proteins; Industrial Biotechnology not elsewhere classified; Medical Biotechnology Diagnostics (incl. Biosensors); Medical Molecular Engineering of Nucleic Acids and Proteins; Regenerative Medicine (incl. Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering); Medical Biotechnology not elsewhere classified; Antarctica; fungal community; biodiversity index; extreme environment; cold desert; Antarctic; King George Island; Deception Island; Fildes; Arctowski; Arctowski Station; Collins Glacier; Robert Island; Coppermine Peninsula; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2019.00028.s001; https://figshare.com/articles/Data_Sheet_1_Occurrence_of_Soil_Fungi_in_Antarctic_Pristine_Environments_PDF/7812134

The 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 ...