Abstract
Sampling campaigns in Greenland and Svalbard were executed to explore fungal diversity in cold habitats. Three very abundant groups of strains were discovered, consisting either of recently described or of yet-undescribed psychrophilic and oligotrophic yeasts and dimorphic fungi, accounting for around 50 % of the total cultivable diversity of basidiomycetes in our studies. The occurrence of these taxa has also been demonstrated by culture-independent methods. Based on phylogenetic analyses of ribosomal gene cluster sequences (D1/D2 domains of 28S (LSU), 18S (SSU), ITS with 5.8S rDNA) and sequences of protein-coding genes for elongation factor one alpha (TEF), cytochrome b (CYTB) and two subunits of the RNA polymerase II (RPB1 and RPB2) obtained from pure cultures, the isolated taxa presented in this study belong to Basidiomycota, subphylum Pucciniomycotina, class Microbotryomycetes, family Camptobasidiaceae. The dataset of the sequences supported the recognition of three species: Camptobasidium gelus, Camptobasidium arcticum sp. nov. (ex-type strain EXF-12713) and Psychromyces glacialis gen. and sp. nov. (ex-type strain EXF-13111). Camptobasidium gelus was found in the Svalbard and Greenland samples, while representatives of the here proposed new species, C. arcticum, were found only in the Greenland Ice Sheet. Psychromyces gen. nov. was erected for the dimorphic/filamentous isolates found in Svalbard and Greenland glacial environments. The taxon, for which the invalid name ‘Rhodotorula svalbardensis’ has been used, belongs to this genus. Based on ribosomal genes, Camptobasidium arcticum and Psychromyces glacialis are related, phylogenetically most closely related to the genera Glaciozyma and Cryolevonia. Seven genes phylogeny restricted to taxa with available sequences, supported the placement of Psychromyces to Camptobasidiaceae.
Highlights
Sampling campaigns in Greenland and Svalbard were executed to explore fungal diversity in cold habitats
This class contains ‘anther smuts’, formerly classified in Ustilaginomycotina, and numerous anamorphic yeasts. It contains the orders Microbotryales, Kriegeriales, Sporidiobolales, Leucosporidiales, Heterogastridiales, Rosettozymales and Heitmaniales [19]
The taxonomic position of numerous species of the Kriegeriales could not be classified on the family level and above because their phylogenetic relationships were studied on the level of ribosomal genes only (e.g. [17, 18]), which is problematic due to low variability in LSU and high variability in including the 5.8S rDNA (ITS) sequences [27]
Summary
Perini et al, Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 2021;71:004655 DOI 10.1099/ijsem.0.004655 Greenland and Svalbard glaciers host unknown basidiomycetes: the yeast Camptobasidium arcticum sp. nov. and the dimorphic Psychromyces glacialis gen. and sp. nov. Laura Perini1, Kristina Andrejašič1, Cene Gostinčar1,2, Nina Gunde-Cimerman1 and Polona Zalar1,*
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