Title Diversity of Thermophilic Fungi in Tengchong Rehai National Park Revealed by ITS Nucleotide Sequence Analyses
Author Wen-Zheng Pan, Xiao-Wei Huang, Kang-Bi Wei, Chun-Mei Zhang, Dong-Mei Yang, Jun-Mei Ding, and Ke-Qin Zhang*
Address Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bio-Resources, and Key Laboratory for Microbial Resources of the Ministry of Education, Yunnan University, Kunming, Yunnan, 650091, P. R. China
Bibliography Journal of Microbiology, 48(2),146-152, 2010,
DOI
Key Words thermophilic fungi, geothermal soils, morphological study, molecular study, physiological study, diversity
Abstract The geothermal sites near neutral and alkalescent thermal springs in Tengchong Rehai National Park were examined through cultivation-dependent approach to determine the diversity of thermophilic fungi in these environments. Here, we collected soils samples in this area, plated on agar media conducive for fungal growth, obtained pure cultures, and then employed the method of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequencing combined with morphological analysis for identification of thermophilic fungi to the species level. In total, 102 strains were isolated and identified as Rhizomucor miehei, Chaetomium sp., Talaromyces thermophilus, Talaromyces byssochlamydoides, Thermoascus aurantiacus Miehe var. levisporus, Thermomyces lanuginosus, Scytalidium thermophilum, Malbranchea flava, Myceliophthora sp. 1, Myceliophthora sp. 2, Myceliophthora sp. 3, and Coprinopsis sp. Two species, T. lanuginosus and S. thermophilum were the dominant species, representing 34.78% and 28.26% of the sample, respectively. Our results indicated a greater diversity of thermophilic fungi in neutral and alkaline geothermal sites than acidic sites around hot springs reported in previous studies. Most of our strains thrived at alkaline growth conditions.