Comparative analysis of keratinophilic fungi from the soils of Khardung and Khardung La (Ladakh), India

Abstract

The present research work was undertaken to study the diversity of keratinophilic fungi from the unexplored soils of Khardung and Khardung La (Ladakh). This was done with a view to evaluate the relationship between the keratinophilic fungi and the keratinous material present in the soil. The soil samples examined from Khardung La were found to be 80% positive for keratinophilic fungi, whereas that of Khardung were 100% positive. A total of 29 keratinophilic species belonging to 13 genera were recovered by keratin bait technique from the soils of Khardung. However, from Khardung La, only 7 species belonging to 3 genera were recovered. The recovered mycokeratinophiles consisted of 5 species each of Aspergillus and Fusarium, 4 species of Chrysosporium, 3 species of Paecilomyces, 2 species each of Acremonium, Gliocladium and Penicillium and 1 species each of Beauveria, Cladosporium, Embellisia, Emericella, Epicoccum, and Sagenomella. Comparison of diversity indices showed a significant difference in species richness between the two sites i.e., Khardung (29) and Khardung La (7). The values of Shannon‟s diversity index and Simpson‟s diversity index were 3.27 and 0.96 respectively for Khardung, whereas these values were 1.88 and 0.84 respectively for Khardung La. Sorenson‟s similarity index showed a value of 38.89% for these two sites, which indicates that some of the species present in Khardung La soils are also prevalent in Khardung soils.