Deep-sea endemic fungi? The discovery of Alisea longicolla from artificially immersed wood in deep sea off the Nansei Islands, Japan

Abstract

Abstract We report the discovery of the deep-sea fungus, Alisea longicolla on a wood log artificially immersed at 495 m depths in deep sea, off the Nansei Islands, Japan. Three different species of wood logs, whale bones and coconuts were deployed at approximate depths of 250, 500, 1000, 2000, 3000 and 5000 m. Densely colonised A. longicolla was found on the Ubame oak (Quercus phillyraeoides) wood log from the 500 m deployment site, which was collected 1302 d (about 3 y and 7 mo) after the deployment. Alisea longicolla was originally described as a new genus of deep-sea ascomycete within the family Halosphaeriaceae, associated with sunken wood collected in 630–791 m water depths off the Vanuatu Islands. Our results provide further evidence to support that A. longicolla may be an endemic deep-sea fungus, and it grows slowly but is active and reproductive in deep-sea environments. The occurrence of obligate deep-sea fungi appears to be very rare in the environments and few data is available. Further investigation on A. longicolla will extend our understanding of the ecology, physiology and evolution of deep-sea fungi.