Hostname: page-component-7bb8b95d7b-pwrkn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-10-04T21:19:13.618Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Biodiversity and enzymes bioprospection of Antarctic filamentous fungi

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 December 2018

M.M. Martorell*
Affiliation:
Instituto Antártico Argentino (IAA)
L.A.M. Ruberto
Affiliation:
Instituto Antártico Argentino (IAA) Universidad de Buenos Aires Instituto de Nanobiotecnología (NANOBIOTEC-UBA-CONICET)
P.M. Fernández
Affiliation:
Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiológicos (PROIMI-CONICET)
L.I.C. De Figueroa
Affiliation:
Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiológicos (PROIMI-CONICET) Universidad Nacional de Tucumán (UNT)
W.P. Mac Cormack
Affiliation:
Instituto Antártico Argentino (IAA) Universidad de Buenos Aires Instituto de Nanobiotecnología (NANOBIOTEC-UBA-CONICET)

Abstract

Antarctica is one of the most suitable locations for the bioprospecting of psychrotrophic fungi, which play a key role in the nutrient cycle and organic material mineralization in cold environments. These actions mainly take place via the production of several cold-active extracellular enzymes. The aim of this study was to investigate the diversity of filamentous fungi from King George Island (25 De Mayo Island), Antarctica and their ability to produce extracellular hydrolytic enzymes at low temperatures. A total of 51 fungal isolates were obtained from 31 samples. Twelve genera were identified, with seven among the Ascomycota (Cadophora, Helotiales, Monographella, Oidodendron, Penicillium, Phialocephala, Phialophora, Phoma and Pseudogymnoascus), one Basidiomycota (Irpex) and two Mucoromycota (Mortierella and Mucor). Monographella lycopodina and Mucor zonatus, not previously reported in Antarctica, were identified. Nine isolates could not be identified to genus level and may represent novel species. Most of the studied fungi were psychrotrophic (76.5%). Nevertheless, only five isolates were able to grow at 35°C, 15°C being the optimal growth temperature for 65% of the fungal isolates. Results from enzyme production at low temperature revealed that the Antarctic environment contains metabolically diverse fungi, which represent potential tools for biotechnological applications in cold regions.

Type
Biological Sciences
Copyright
© Antarctic Science Ltd 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Arenz, B.E., Held, B.W., Jurgens, J.A., Farrell, R.L. & Blanchette, R.A. 2006. Fungal diversity in soils and historic wood from the Ross Sea region of Antarctica. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 38, 30573064.Google Scholar
Blanchette, R.A., Held, B.W., Jurgens, J.A., McNew, D.L., Harrington, T.C., Duncan, S.M. & Farrell, R.L. 2004. Wood-destroying soft rot fungi in the historic expedition huts of Antarctica. Applied Environmental Microbiology, 70, 13281335.Google Scholar
Bokhorst, S., Huiskes, A., Convey, P. & Aerts, R. 2007. The effect of environmental change on vascular plant and cryptogam communities from the Falkland Islands and the Maritime Antarctic. BMC Ecology, 7, 10.1186/1472-6785-7-15.Google Scholar
Carrasco, M., Rozas, J.M., Barahona, S., Alcaíno, J., Cifuentes, V. & Baeza, M. 2012. Diversity and extracellular enzymatic activities of yeasts isolated from King George Island, the sub-Antarctic region. BMC Microbiology, 12, 251.Google Scholar
Comerio, R.M. & Mac Cormack, W. 2004. Algunos micromicetes del suelo y de alimentos deteriorados en la Antártida Argentina. Revista Iberoamericana de Micología, 21, 128134.Google Scholar
Connell, L. & Staudigel, H. 2013. Fungal diversity in a dark oligotrophic volcanic ecosystem (DOVE) on Mount Erebus, Antarctica. Biology 2, 798809.Google Scholar
Cooke, R.C. & Rayner, A.D. 1984. Ecology of saprotrophic fungi. London: Longman, 391 pp.Google Scholar
Ding, Z., Li, L., Che, Q., Li, D., Gu, Q. & Zhu, T. 2016 Richness and bioactivity of culturable soil fungi from the Fildes Peninsula, Antarctica. Extremophiles, 20, 425435.Google Scholar
Fernández, P.M., Martorell, M.M., Blaser, M.G., Ruberto, L.A.M., de Figueroa, L.I.C. & Mac Cormack, W.P. 2017. Phenol degradation and heavy metal tolerance of Antarctic yeasts. Extremophiles, 21, 445457.Google Scholar
Gerday, C., Aittaleb, M., Bentahir, M., Chessa, J.P., Claverie, P., Collins, T., D’Amico, S., Dumont, J., Garsoux, G. & Georlette, D. 2000. Cold-adapted enzymes: from fundamentals to biotechnology. Trends in Biotechnology, 18, 103107.Google Scholar
Gesheva, V. & Negoita, T. 2012. Psychrotrophic microorganism communities in soils of Haswell Island, Antarctica, and their biosynthetic potential. Polar Biology, 35, 291297.Google Scholar
Godinho, V.M., Furbino, L.E., Santiago, I.F., Pellizzari, F.M., Yokoya, N.S., Pupo, D., Cantrell, C.L., Rosa, C.A. & Rosa, L.H. 2013. Diversity and bioprospecting of fungal communities associated with endemic and cold-adapted macroalgae in Antarctica. The ISME Journal, 7, 14341451.Google Scholar
Gonçalves, V.N., Vaz, A., Rosa, C.A. & Rosa, L.H. 2012 Diversity and distribution of fungal communities in lakes of Antarctica. FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 82, 459471.Google Scholar
Gopinath, S.C., Hilda, A. & Anbu, P. 2005. Extracellular enzymatic activity profiles in fungi isolated from oil-rich environments. Mycoscience, 46, 119126.Google Scholar
Gunde-Cimerman, N., Sonjak, S., Zalar, P., Frisvad, J.C., Diderichsen, B. & Plemenitaš, A. 2003. Extremophilic fungi in arctic ice: a relationship between adaptation to low temperature and water activity. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth Parts A/B/C, 28, 12731278.Google Scholar
Hayes, M.A. 2012. The Geomyces fungi: ecology and distribution. Bioscience, 62, 819823.Google Scholar
Held, B.W. & Blanchette, R.A. 2017. Deception Island, Antarctica, harbors a diverse assemblage of wood decay fungi. Fungal Biology, 121, 145157.Google Scholar
Hepperle, D. 2011. DNA Dragon 1.4. 1–DNA Sequence Contig Assembler Software. Available at: http://www.dna-dragon.com. Accessed on 25 November 2010.Google Scholar
Hirose, D., Hobara, S., Matsuoka, S., Kato, K., Tanabe, Y., Uchida, M. & Osono, T. 2016. Diversity and community assembly of moss-associated fungi in ice-free coastal outcrops of continental Antarctica. Fungal Ecology, 24, 94101.Google Scholar
Jewell, L.E. & Hsiang, T. 2013. Multigene differences between Microdochium nivale and Microdochium majus . Botany, 91, 99106.Google Scholar
Kochkina, G.A., Ozerskaya, S.M., Ivanushkina, N.E., Chigineva, N.I., Vasilenko, O.V., Spirina, E.V. & Gilichinskii, D.A. 2014. Fungal diversity in the Antarctic active layer. Microbiology, 83, 94101.Google Scholar
Kostadinova, N., Krumova, E., Tosi, S., Pashova, S. & Angelova, M. 2009. Isolation and identification of filamentous fungi from Island Livingston, Antarctica. Biotechnology & Biotechnological Equipment, 23, 267270.Google Scholar
Krishnan, A., Alias, S.A., Wong, C.M.V.L., Pang, K.L. & Convey, P. 2011. Extracellular hydrolase enzyme production by soil fungi from King George Island, Antarctica. Polar Biology, 34, 15351542.Google Scholar
Kurtzman, C., Fell, J.W. & Boekhout, T. 2011. The yeasts: a taxonomic study. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2354 pp.Google Scholar
Li, J., Chi, Z., Wang, X., Peng, Y. & Chi, Z. 2009. The selection of alkaline protease-producing yeasts from marine environments and evaluation of their bioactive peptide production. Chinese Journal of Oceanology Limnology, 27, 10.1007/s00343-009-9198-8.Google Scholar
Margesin, R. & Feller, G. 2010. Biotechnological applications of psychrophiles. Environmental Technology, 31, 835844.Google Scholar
Martínez-Álvarez, L.M., Ruberto, L.A.M., Balbo, A.L. & Mac Cormack, W.P. 2017. Bioremediation of hydrocarbon-contaminated soils in cold regions: development of a pre-optimized biostimulation biopile-scale field assay in Antarctica. Science of the Total Environment, 590, 194203.Google Scholar
Maza, M., Pajot, H.F., Amoroso, M.J. & Yasem, M.G. 2014. Post-harvest sugarcane residue degradation by autochthonous fungi. International Biodeterioration and Biodegradation, 87, 1825.Google Scholar
McRae, C.F., Hocking, A.D. & Seppelt, R.D. 1999. Penicillium species from terrestrial habitats in the Windmill Islands, East Antarctica, including a new species, Penicillium antarcticum . Polar Biology, 21, 97111.Google Scholar
Newsham, K.K., Upson, R. & Read, D.J. 2009. Mycorrhizas and dark septate root endophytes in polar regions. Fungal Ecology, 2, 1020.Google Scholar
Onofri, S., Selbmann, L., De Hoog, G.S., Grube, M., Barreca, D., Ruisi, S. & Zucconi, L. 2007. Evolution and adaptation of fungi at boundaries of life. Advances in Space Research, 40, 16571664.Google Scholar
Onofri, S., Selbmann, L., Zucconi, L. & Pagano, S. 2004 Antarctic microfungi as models for exobiology. Planetary and Space Science, 52, 229237.Google Scholar
Pandey, A., Nigam, P., Soccol, C., Soccol, V., Singh, D. & Mohan, R. 2000. Advances in microbial amylases. Biotechnology and Applied Biochemistry, 31, 135152.Google Scholar
Robinson, C.H. 2001. Cold adaptation in Arctic and Antarctic fungi. New Phytologist, 151, 341353.Google Scholar
Rovati, J.I., Delgado, O.D., Figueroa, L.I. & Fariña, J.I. 2010. A novel source of fibrinolytic activity: Bionectria sp., an unconventional enzyme-producing fungus isolated from Las Yungas rainforest (Tucumán, Argentina). World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology, 26, 55.Google Scholar
Ruisi, S., Barreca, D., Selbmann, L., Zucconi, L. & Onofri, S. 2007. Fungi in Antarctica. Reviews in Environmental Science and Bio/Technology, 6, 127141.Google Scholar
Simon, U.K. & Weiss, M. 2008. Intragenomic variation of fungal ribosomal genes is higher than previously thought. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 25, 22512254.Google Scholar
Zhang, T., Zhang, Y.Q., Liu, H.Y., Wei, Y.Z., Li, H.L., Su, J. & Yu, L.Y. 2013. Diversity and cold adaptation of culturable endophytic fungi from bryophytes in the Fildes Region, King George Island, maritime Antarctica. FEMS Microbiology Letters, 341, 5261.Google Scholar