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Halotolerant and Halophilic Fungi
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Halotolerant and Halophilic Fungi

A special issue of Journal of Fungi (ISSN 2309-608X). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental and Ecological Interactions of Fungi".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 March 2022) | Viewed by 14253

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Nina Gunde-Cimerman

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biology, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Interests: microbiology; particularly the biodiversity of yeasts and filamentous fungi in polythermal glaciers; yeasts in Arctic sea water; yeasts in Arctic sea-ice; bioindicator sterols in glacier ice; adaptations of fungi to cold temperatures and low water activity
Dr. Polona Zalar

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Biotechnical faculty, Department of Biology, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Interests: mycology; fungal taxonomy, systematics and evolution; fungi in natural hypersaline environments; xerophilic fungi

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Fungi have long only been recognized as contaminants of salty and sweet food, both characterized by low water activity. Only in the last two decades has it become clear that they populate natural hypersaline environments such as salterns, hypersaline lakes, mats in salt ponds, salt marshes, halophytic plants, deep sea, and other marine-derived environments all over the world.

They range from halotolerant and extremely halotolerant to obligately halophilic. Not only can selected taxa adapt to high concentrations of NaCl, many thrive in the presence of even more inhibitive salts such as MgCl2 and MgSO4. Fungi that populate salty environments range from rare, sporadic, and specialized taxa to representatives of common genera such as Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Cladosporium. Extensive research carried out on model organisms such as the halotolerant ascomycetous black yeasts Hortaea werneckii, its relative Aureobasidium pullulans, and the halophilic basidiomycetous Wallemia ichthyophaga have revealed very different adaptive mechanisms. For example, genomic and population genomics studies showed high levels of recombination in species previously considered asexual, in the form of highly heterozygous hybrids that are over long time and separated by long geographical distances.

From the fascinating world of halophilic and halotolerant fungi, many more discoveries, with important implications for our future, will surely be made: the crucial mechanisms and genes relevant for halo-adaptations and application of this knowledge to global problems (e.g., the increase of halotolerance in food-related plants, the mycoremediation of polluted salty environments, the discovery of new bioactive molecules, applications in food processing). We therefore encourage researchers to present all aspects of halotolerance in fungi, from the description of new species to elucidations of the diversity of the mechanisms of halotolerance.

Prof. Dr. Nina Gunde-Cimerman
Dr. Polona Zalar
Guest Editors

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

24 pages, 1732 KiB  
Article
Influence of Salinity on the Extracellular Enzymatic Activities of Marine Pelagic Fungi
by Katherine Salazar-Alekseyeva, Gerhard J. Herndl and Federico Baltar
J. Fungi 2024, 10(2), 152; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof10020152 - 13 Feb 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2151
Abstract
Even though fungi are ubiquitous in the biosphere, the ecological knowledge of marine fungi remains rather rudimentary. Also, little is known about their tolerance to salinity and how it influences their activities. Extracellular enzymatic activities (EEAs) are widely used to determine heterotrophic microbes’ [...] Read more.
Even though fungi are ubiquitous in the biosphere, the ecological knowledge of marine fungi remains rather rudimentary. Also, little is known about their tolerance to salinity and how it influences their activities. Extracellular enzymatic activities (EEAs) are widely used to determine heterotrophic microbes’ enzymatic capabilities and substrate preferences. Five marine fungal species belonging to the most abundant pelagic phyla (Ascomycota and Basidiomycota) were grown under non-saline and saline conditions (0 g/L and 35 g/L, respectively). Due to their sensitivity and specificity, fluorogenic substrate analogues were used to determine hydrolytic activity on carbohydrates (β-glucosidase, β-xylosidase, and N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase); peptides (leucine aminopeptidase and trypsin); lipids (lipase); organic phosphorus (alkaline phosphatase), and sulfur compounds (sulfatase). Afterwards, kinetic parameters such as maximum velocity (Vmax) and half-saturation constant (Km) were calculated. All fungal species investigated cleaved these substrates, but some species were more efficient than others. Moreover, most enzymatic activities were reduced in the saline medium, with some exceptions like sulfatase. In non-saline conditions, the average Vmax ranged between 208.5 to 0.02 μmol/g biomass/h, and in saline conditions, 88.4 to 0.02 μmol/g biomass/h. The average Km ranged between 1553.2 and 0.02 μM with no clear influence of salinity. Taken together, our results highlight a potential tolerance of marine fungi to freshwater conditions and indicate that changes in salinity (due to freshwater input or evaporation) might impact their enzymatic activities spectrum and, therefore, their contribution to the oceanic elemental cycles. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Halotolerant and Halophilic Fungi)
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17 pages, 3574 KiB  
Article
Soil Fungal Community Composition and Diversity of Culturable Endophytic Fungi from Plant Roots in the Reclaimed Area of the Eastern Coast of China
by Fei Zhong, Xinlei Fan, Wenhui Ji, Zhixing Hai, Naican Hu, Xintong Li, Guoyuan Liu, Chunmei Yu, Yanhong Chen, Bolin Lian, Hui Wei and Jian Zhang
J. Fungi 2022, 8(2), 124; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof8020124 - 27 Jan 2022
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 3966
Abstract
As an important resource for screening microbial strains capable of conferring stress tolerance in plants, the fungal community associated with the plants grown in stressful environments has received great attention. In this study, high-throughput sequencing was employed to study the rhizosphere fungal community [...] Read more.
As an important resource for screening microbial strains capable of conferring stress tolerance in plants, the fungal community associated with the plants grown in stressful environments has received great attention. In this study, high-throughput sequencing was employed to study the rhizosphere fungal community in the reclaimed area (i.e., sites F, H, and T) of the eastern coast of China. Moreover, endophytic fungi from the root of six plant species colonizing the investigated sites were isolated and identified. The differences in soil physicochemical parameters, fungal diversity, and community structure were detected among the sampling sites and between the seasons. Ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi (e.g., genera Tuber and Geopora) were dominant at site F, which was characterized by high soil total carbon (SC) and total nitrogen (SN) contents and low soil electrical conductivity (EC) value. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, including genera Glomus, Rhizophagus, and Entrophospora were dominant at sites H (winter), H (summer), and T (summer), respectively. The positive relationship between the EC value and the abundance of genus Glomus indicated the ability of this AM fungus to protect plants against the salt stress. Endophytic fungi at sites F (Aspergillus and Tetracladium), H (Nigrospora), and T (Nigrospora, Coniochaeta and Zopfiella) were recognized as the biomarkers or keystone taxa, among which only genus Aspergillus was isolated from the plant roots. The aforementioned AM fungi and endophytic fungi could contribute to the promotion of plant growth in the newly reclaimed land. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Halotolerant and Halophilic Fungi)
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22 pages, 2943 KiB  
Article
Seven Years at High Salinity—Experimental Evolution of the Extremely Halotolerant Black Yeast Hortaea werneckii
by Cene Gostinčar, Jason E. Stajich, Anja Kejžar, Sunita Sinha, Corey Nislow, Metka Lenassi and Nina Gunde-Cimerman
J. Fungi 2021, 7(9), 723; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof7090723 - 4 Sep 2021
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3215
Abstract
The experimental evolution of microorganisms exposed to extreme conditions can provide insight into cellular adaptation to stress. Typically, stress-sensitive species are exposed to stress over many generations and then examined for improvements in their stress tolerance. In contrast, when starting with an already [...] Read more.
The experimental evolution of microorganisms exposed to extreme conditions can provide insight into cellular adaptation to stress. Typically, stress-sensitive species are exposed to stress over many generations and then examined for improvements in their stress tolerance. In contrast, when starting with an already stress-tolerant progenitor there may be less room for further improvement, it may still be able to tweak its cellular machinery to increase extremotolerance, perhaps at the cost of poorer performance under non-extreme conditions. To investigate these possibilities, a strain of extremely halotolerant black yeast Hortaea werneckii was grown for over seven years through at least 800 generations in a medium containing 4.3 M NaCl. Although this salinity is well above the optimum (0.8–1.7 M) for the species, the growth rate of the evolved H. werneckii did not change in the absence of salt or at high concentrations of NaCl, KCl, sorbitol, or glycerol. Other phenotypic traits did change during the course of the experimental evolution, including fewer multicellular chains in the evolved strains, significantly narrower cells, increased resistance to caspofungin, and altered melanisation. Whole-genome sequencing revealed the occurrence of multiple aneuploidies during the experimental evolution of the otherwise diploid H. werneckii. A significant overrepresentation of several gene groups was observed in aneuploid regions. Taken together, these changes suggest that long-term growth at extreme salinity led to alterations in cell wall and morphology, signalling pathways, and the pentose phosphate cycle. Although there is currently limited evidence for the adaptive value of these changes, they offer promising starting points for future studies of fungal halotolerance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Halotolerant and Halophilic Fungi)
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28 pages, 5154 KiB  
Article
Osmolyte Signatures for the Protection of Aspergillus sydowii Cells under Halophilic Conditions and Osmotic Shock
by Eya Caridad Rodríguez-Pupo, Yordanis Pérez-Llano, José Raunel Tinoco-Valencia, Norma Silvia Sánchez, Francisco Padilla-Garfias, Martha Calahorra, Nilda del C. Sánchez, Ayixón Sánchez-Reyes, María del Rocío Rodríguez-Hernández, Antonio Peña, Olivia Sánchez, Jesús Aguirre, Ramón Alberto Batista-García, Jorge Luis Folch-Mallol and María del Rayo Sánchez-Carbente
J. Fungi 2021, 7(6), 414; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof7060414 - 26 May 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3367
Abstract
Aspergillus sydowii is a moderate halophile fungus extensively studied for its biotechnological potential and halophile responses, which has also been reported as a coral reef pathogen. In a recent publication, the transcriptomic analysis of this fungus, when growing on wheat straw, showed that [...] Read more.
Aspergillus sydowii is a moderate halophile fungus extensively studied for its biotechnological potential and halophile responses, which has also been reported as a coral reef pathogen. In a recent publication, the transcriptomic analysis of this fungus, when growing on wheat straw, showed that genes related to cell wall modification and cation transporters were upregulated under hypersaline conditions but not under 0.5 M NaCl, the optimal salinity for growth in this strain. This led us to study osmolyte accumulation as a mechanism to withstand moderate salinity. In this work, we show that A. sydowii accumulates trehalose, arabitol, mannitol, and glycerol with different temporal dynamics, which depend on whether the fungus is exposed to hypo- or hyperosmotic stress. The transcripts coding for enzymes responsible for polyalcohol synthesis were regulated in a stress-dependent manner. Interestingly, A. sydowii contains three homologs (Hog1, Hog2 and MpkC) of the Hog1 MAPK, the master regulator of hyperosmotic stress response in S. cerevisiae and other fungi. We show a differential regulation of these MAPKs under different salinity conditions, including sustained basal Hog1/Hog2 phosphorylation levels in the absence of NaCl or in the presence of 2.0 M NaCl, in contrast to what is observed in S. cerevisiae. These findings indicate that halophilic fungi such as A. sydowii utilize different osmoadaptation mechanisms to hypersaline conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Halotolerant and Halophilic Fungi)
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