Abstract
We assessed soil fungal diversity at two sites on Deception Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica using DNA metabarcoding analysis. The first site was a relatively undisturbed area, and the second was much more heavily impacted by research and tourism. We detected 346 fungal amplicon sequence variants dominated by the phyla Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Mortierellomycota and Chytridiomycota. We also detected taxa belonging to the rare phyla Mucoromycota and Rozellomycota, which have been difficult to detect in Antarctica by traditional isolation methods. Cladosporium sp., Pseudogymnoascus roseus, Leotiomycetes sp. 2, Penicillium sp., Mortierella sp. 1, Mortierella sp. 2, Pseudogymnoascus appendiculatus and Pseudogymnoascus sp. were the most dominant fungi. In addition, 440,153 of the total of 1,214,875 reads detected could be classified only at the level of Fungi. In both sampling areas the DNA of opportunistic, phytopathogenic and symbiotic fungi were detected, which might have been introduced by human activities, transported by birds or wind, and/or represent resident fungi not previously reported from Antarctica. Further long-term studies are required to elucidate how biological colonization in the island may be affected by climatic changes and/or other anthropogenic influences.
Highlights
We assessed soil fungal diversity at two sites on Deception Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica using DNA metabarcoding analysis
The amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) identified as Cladosporium sp., Pseudogymnoascus roseus, Leotiomycetes sp. 2, Penicillium sp., Mortierella sp. 1, Mortierella sp. 2, Pseudogymnoascus appendiculatus and Pseudogymnoascus sp. were most dominant at genus/species level
Twenty-three fungal ASVs could be assigned to only higher hierarchical levels when compared with known DNA sequences deposited in the UNITE DNA d atabase[15] and might represent taxa above the species level new to science and new records for Antarctica
Summary
We assessed soil fungal diversity at two sites on Deception Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica using DNA metabarcoding analysis. Antarctic environments experience multiple extreme conditions including low temperatures, acidic and alkaline pH, ultra-oligotrophic conditions, freeze–thaw cycles, salinity stress, desiccation, wind abrasion and high radiation levels[1] and, for these reasons, offer unique opportunities to study the diversity of fungi[2] In the latter part of the Twentieth Century, the Antarctic Peninsula region was one of the regions of the planet most affected by climatic changes. The present study aimed to characterize and compare fungal diversity assessed using metabarcoding in soil at two sites on Deception Island, (1) a relatively undisturbed site within the terrestrial Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA) 140 and (2) a disturbed site in Whalers Bay subject to considerable visitor pressure and greater human impact
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