Beyond the extremes: Rocks as ultimate refuge for fungi in drylands
In an era of rapid climate change and expansion of desertification, the extremely harsh conditions of drylands are a true challenge for microbial life. Under drought conditions, where most life forms cannot survive, rocks represent the main refuge for life. Indeed, the endolithic habitat provides th...
Published in: | Mycologia |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | unknown |
Published: |
2021
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/2067/45925 https://doi.org/10.1080/00275514.2020.1816761 https://dspace.unitus.it/handle/2067/43108 |
id |
ftunivtuscia:oai:dspace.unitus.it:2067/45925 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftunivtuscia:oai:dspace.unitus.it:2067/45925 2023-05-15T13:52:30+02:00 Beyond the extremes: Rocks as ultimate refuge for fungi in drylands Coleine, Claudia Stajich, Jason E de Los Ríos, Asunción Selbmann, Laura 2021 STAMPA http://hdl.handle.net/2067/45925 https://doi.org/10.1080/00275514.2020.1816761 https://dspace.unitus.it/handle/2067/43108 unknown MYCOLOGIA 108-133 133 113 1 0027-5514 http://hdl.handle.net/2067/45925 doi:10.1080/00275514.2020.1816761 33232202 2-s2.0-85096567061 https://dspace.unitus.it/handle/2067/43108 restricted article 2021 ftunivtuscia https://doi.org/10.1080/00275514.2020.1816761 2022-05-01T15:20:32Z In an era of rapid climate change and expansion of desertification, the extremely harsh conditions of drylands are a true challenge for microbial life. Under drought conditions, where most life forms cannot survive, rocks represent the main refuge for life. Indeed, the endolithic habitat provides thermal buffering, physical stability, and protection against incident ultraviolet (UV) radiation and solar radiation and, to some extent, ensures water retention to microorganisms. The study of these highly specialized extreme-tolerant and extremophiles may provide tools for understanding microbial interactions and processes that allow them to keep their metabolic machinery active under conditions of dryness and oligotrophy that are typically incompatible with active life, up to the dry limits for life. Despite lithobiontic communities being studied all over the world, a comprehensive understanding of their ecology, evolution, and adaptation is still nascent. Herein, we survey the fungal component of these microbial ecosystems. We first provide an overview of the main defined groups (i.e., lichen-forming fungi, black fungi, and yeasts) of the most known and studied Antarctic endolithic communities that are almost the only life forms ensuring ecosystem functionality in the ice-free areas of the continent. For each group, we discuss their main traits and their diversity. Then, we focus on the fungal taxonomy and ecology of other worldwide endolithic communities. Finally, we highlight the utmost importance of a global rock survey in order to have a comprehensive view of the diversity, distribution, and functionality of these fungi in drylands, to obtain tools in desert area management, and as early alarm systems to climate change. sì Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Università degli studi della Tuscia: Unitus DSpace Antarctic Mycologia 113 1 108 133 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Università degli studi della Tuscia: Unitus DSpace |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtuscia |
language |
unknown |
description |
In an era of rapid climate change and expansion of desertification, the extremely harsh conditions of drylands are a true challenge for microbial life. Under drought conditions, where most life forms cannot survive, rocks represent the main refuge for life. Indeed, the endolithic habitat provides thermal buffering, physical stability, and protection against incident ultraviolet (UV) radiation and solar radiation and, to some extent, ensures water retention to microorganisms. The study of these highly specialized extreme-tolerant and extremophiles may provide tools for understanding microbial interactions and processes that allow them to keep their metabolic machinery active under conditions of dryness and oligotrophy that are typically incompatible with active life, up to the dry limits for life. Despite lithobiontic communities being studied all over the world, a comprehensive understanding of their ecology, evolution, and adaptation is still nascent. Herein, we survey the fungal component of these microbial ecosystems. We first provide an overview of the main defined groups (i.e., lichen-forming fungi, black fungi, and yeasts) of the most known and studied Antarctic endolithic communities that are almost the only life forms ensuring ecosystem functionality in the ice-free areas of the continent. For each group, we discuss their main traits and their diversity. Then, we focus on the fungal taxonomy and ecology of other worldwide endolithic communities. Finally, we highlight the utmost importance of a global rock survey in order to have a comprehensive view of the diversity, distribution, and functionality of these fungi in drylands, to obtain tools in desert area management, and as early alarm systems to climate change. sì |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Coleine, Claudia Stajich, Jason E de Los Ríos, Asunción Selbmann, Laura |
spellingShingle |
Coleine, Claudia Stajich, Jason E de Los Ríos, Asunción Selbmann, Laura Beyond the extremes: Rocks as ultimate refuge for fungi in drylands |
author_facet |
Coleine, Claudia Stajich, Jason E de Los Ríos, Asunción Selbmann, Laura |
author_sort |
Coleine, Claudia |
title |
Beyond the extremes: Rocks as ultimate refuge for fungi in drylands |
title_short |
Beyond the extremes: Rocks as ultimate refuge for fungi in drylands |
title_full |
Beyond the extremes: Rocks as ultimate refuge for fungi in drylands |
title_fullStr |
Beyond the extremes: Rocks as ultimate refuge for fungi in drylands |
title_full_unstemmed |
Beyond the extremes: Rocks as ultimate refuge for fungi in drylands |
title_sort |
beyond the extremes: rocks as ultimate refuge for fungi in drylands |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/2067/45925 https://doi.org/10.1080/00275514.2020.1816761 https://dspace.unitus.it/handle/2067/43108 |
geographic |
Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic |
op_relation |
MYCOLOGIA 108-133 133 113 1 0027-5514 http://hdl.handle.net/2067/45925 doi:10.1080/00275514.2020.1816761 33232202 2-s2.0-85096567061 https://dspace.unitus.it/handle/2067/43108 |
op_rights |
restricted |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1080/00275514.2020.1816761 |
container_title |
Mycologia |
container_volume |
113 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
108 |
op_container_end_page |
133 |
_version_ |
1766256825625214976 |