Diversity and temperature adaptability of cultivable fungi in marine sediments from the Chukchi Sea

Abstract

In recent years, the Arctic has become a hot spot for microbial research. However, fungal diversity in the Chukchi Sea (adjacent to the Arctic Ocean) is little known. The purpose of this study was to explore fungal diversity in sediments of the Chukchi Sea and the temperature adaptability of the cultured fungi. A total of 74 fungal strains were isolated from nine marine sediment samples collected from the Chukchi Sea. These fungi were identified based on morphological characteristics and sequence comparison of the internal transcribed spacers of the ribosomal DNA (ITS-rDNA) with the GenBank reference sequence database. Amongst these fungi, 61 strains belonged to the Ascomycota and 13 strains were affiliated with the Basidiomycota. The dominant genus was Penicillium. These fungal strains were cultured at 4 degrees C, 10 degrees C, and 25 degrees C to determine their temperature adaptability. Most strains were able to grow at 4 degrees C, and Thelebolus ellipsoideus was identified as a psychrophilic fungus. Our results revealed a high fungal diversity in marine sediments of the Chukchi Sea and found that some fungal species (Penicillium chrysogenum, Eutypella scoparia, Alternaria alternata, Cladosporium tenuissimum, C. perangustums and Thelebolus ellipsoideus) isolated from these sediments were able to grow at 10 degrees C and 4 degrees C.