Fungi in Antarctica: Diversity, Ecology, Effects of Climate Change, and Bioprospection for Bioactive Compounds

Abstract

In Antarctica, microorganisms dominate food chains in several different pristine ecosystems. In these ecosystems, fungi occur as two known basic forms (i) filamentous fungi and (ii) yeasts, which display colonies with different morphologies and colours (Fig. 1.1). Such colonies demonstrate a high degree of genetic plasticity that allows them to survive under extreme conditions of low temperatures, high UV irradiation, freeze-thaw cycles, different pH levels, strong winds, dehydration, osmotic stress, and low nutrient concentrations (Fell et al. 2006). The fungal assemblages of Antarctica include taxa that belong to the major fungal groups, which were reported by Kirk et al. (2008) to be Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, traditional Zygomycota, Chytridiomycota, and Glomeromycota;

Diversity, Distribution, and Ecology of Fungi in the Seasonal Snow of Antarctica

“…Most studies on fungi in Antarctica have focused on fungi living in terrestrial and marine environments, such as lakes [2,3], soils [4,5], historic woods [6], plants [7,8], and macroalgae [9,10]. In these Antarctic habitats, fungi are represented mostly by the taxa of the phyla Ascomycota and its anamorphs, followed by Basidiomycota , Mortierellomycota , and Chytridiomycota [11,12].…”

Genetic Transformation of the Filamentous Fungus Pseudogymnoascus verrucosus of Antarctic Origin

“…Among the microorganisms usually found in Antarctica, filamentous fungi are one of the most interesting groups. The number of fungal species recorded so far in the different Antarctic ecosystems studied is very high, suggesting a great diversity of fungi (Bridge and Spooner, 2012; Rosa et al, 2019). In addition, studies prospecting bioactivities in filamentous fungi isolated from Antarctica have gained much interest during last decades, showing that these fungi produce metabolites with interesting biological activities (Tian et al, 2017; Vaca and Chávez, 2019), as well as enzymes with novel properties, which could be useful for biotechnological purposes (Duarte et al, 2017, 2018).…”

“…Cold-adapted fungi from the genus Pseudogymnoascus are prevalent in most of the Antarctic environments (Ogaki et al, 2019; Rosa et al, 2019). To date, the species P. appendiculatus , P. destructans , P. pannorum , P. verrucosus , and P. vinaceous have been isolated from different Antarctic environments (Loque et al, 2010; Gomes et al, 2018; Alves et al, 2019; Kochkina et al, 2019; Rosa et al, 2019).…”

Extracellular Enzymes and Bioactive Compounds from Antarctic Terrestrial Fungi for Bioprospecting

“…These latter organisms have mostly attracted the interest of the scientific community as, to survive to this combination of environmental constraints, had to have developed multiple mechanisms of stress tolerance. These mechanisms include the activation of peculiar metabolic pathways and the production of either enzymes active at temperatures below the common limits, or other bioactive compounds of great potential value for biotechnological applications [7]. In this optic, Antarctica represents a very attractive location to search for novel cold-adapted enzymes or bioactive compounds both for being a permanently cold environment and because of the minimum human-associated activity.…”

“…Some fungal species found in the Antarctic environment are possibly present as air transported propagules from outside the continent and do not actively grow in this natural environment. Other species are indigenous, or even endemic, able to actively grow and reproduce in environmental conditions that are accounted among the most extreme on Earth [ 4 , 6 , 7 ]. These latter organisms have mostly attracted the interest of the scientific community as, to survive to this combination of environmental constraints, had to have developed multiple mechanisms of stress tolerance.…”