Occurrence of thermophilic fungal communities and its growth rate on different media and temperatures from available natural substrates

Abstract

Thermophilic fungi are the chief components of the microflora that develops in heaped masses of plant materials, piles of agricultural and forestry products and other accumulation of organic matter. In this investigation, survey was conducted and collected different compost samples from eight localities of Osmanabad district. Among these localities, Naldurg and Dhoki sites showed highest number of organic substrates, while least in Itkal. Physicochemial properties i.e. nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, total organic matter, total carbon and moisture were analysed from available composts and among them nitrogen was highest in molasses. Isolation of fungi was made from substrates and among five substrates, vermicompost and Farm Yard Manure (FYM) were recorded for highest species richness and % incidence while less in molasses. Among isolated thermophilic fungi, Aspergillus niger, A. flavus, Rhizoctonia solani, A. fumigatus and Rhizopus sp. found abundant in all the substrates and temperature ranges. Fungal species A. niger, Mucor mucedo, A. flavus and Pythium sp. Highest growth on all three media viz. Potato dextrose agar (PDA), Czapek’s Dox Agar (CZA) and Martins Rose Bengal (MBR) were recorded. A. niger and Rhizopus sp. were found dominant in tested media and temperature. Generally, the fungi show very little growth at 65 °C. Every temperature gradient showed the growth incidence in all substrates but room temperature (RT) and 35 °C showed richness of fungal incidence. Even some species showed the growth on some substrates at higher temperate (65 °C) to some extent.

Improved strategies to efficiently isolate thermophilic, thermotolerant, and heat-resistant fungi from compost and soil

“…Moreover, in this study, six and five species were only isolated at 45°C and 55°C, respectively (Online Resource 2). This is in accordance with other studies, in which different temperatures (strategy 1 and strategy 2) and carbon sources (strategies 1a and 1b) led to the isolation of different fungal species (Tansey 1971;Anastasi et al 2005;Langarica-Fuentes et al 2014a;Birajdar et al 2020).…”