Arctic marine fungi: from filaments and flagella to operational taxonomic units and beyond

Abstract

Fungi have evolved mechanisms to function in the harsh conditions of the Arctic Ocean and its adjacent seas. Despite the ecological and industrial potential of these fungi and the unique species discovered in the cold seas, Arctic marine fungi remain poorly characterised, with only 33 publications available to date. In this review, we present a list of 100 morphologically identified species of marine fungi detected in the Arctic. Independent molecular studies, applying Sanger or high-throughput sequencing (HTS), have detected hundreds of fungal operational taxonomic units (OTUs) in single substrates, with no evidence for decreased richness of marine fungi towards northern latitudes. The dominant fungal phyla may be substrate-specific, as sea-ice and seawater seem to host more Chytridiomycota and Basidiomycota than Ascomycota-dominated driftwood and sediments. Molecular studies have revealed the presence of the Chytridiomycota and Leotiomycetes in Arctic waters, with mounting evidence suggesting a significant role in nutrient and carbon cycling. The high detection frequency of Leotiomycetes is partly due to OTUs from marine

Fungal evolution: major ecological adaptations and evolutionary transitions

“…However, all known extant fungal lineages are apparently primarily continental, either truly terrestrial or associated with non‐marine water bodies. Marine fungi do exist, but even zoosporic lineages seem to be much more diverse in non‐marine environments (Richards et al, , ; Manohar et al, ; Rämä et al, ). Ancestral fungi must have been primarily aquatic, however, as all terrestrial fungi form a clearly monophyletic clade with a single inferred loss of the flagellum (Liu, Hodson & Hall, ).…”

Global diversity and geography of planktonic marine fungi

“…The Fungi are globally distributed members of marine ecosystems (Tisthammer et al 2016, Morales et al 2019, whose abundances are tied to phytoplankton (Taylor and Cunliffe 2016), organic matter (Ortega-Arbulú et al 2018), and elevated photon fluxes (Hassett and Gradinger 2016). Marine fungi have been detected in the sub-seafloor , in coastal marine sediments (Picard 2017), throughout the Arctic (Rämä et al 2017), and cultured extensively in temperate and tropic regions (Jones and Pang 2012a). Marine fungi were known to exist since the 1800s and their diversity has been explored through many vigorous culturing and morphological-based diagnostic studies Sparrow 1961, Kohlmeyer andKohlmeyer 1979).…”

Eukaryotic Sequences in the 16SrRNA Metagenomic Dataset of Algal–bacterial Consortia of the White Sea Coastal Zone

“…Based on previous studies, Ascomycetes are abundant in arctic microbial ecosystems (Bubnova ; Rämä et al. ). Especially, Leotiomycetes may play an important role in the marine ecosystems of high latitudes (Bubnova ).…”

“…Several studies have paid attention to a fungal component of the White Sea microbial communities, especially in the littoral zone (Bubnova ; Rämä et al. ).…”