Pioneering fungi from the Damma glacier forefield in the Swiss Alps can promote granite weathering

Abstract

Fungi were isolated from fine granitic sediments, which were collected at 15 sampling points within a 20 m × 40 m area in front of the Damma glacier in the central Swiss Alps. From the 45 fungal isolates grown on nutrient-rich agar media at 4 °C, 24 isolates were selected for partial sequencing and identification based on the small subunit ribosomal DNA. Sequencing data revealed that the isolated fungi represented three fungal phyla and 15 species. The weathering potential of 10 of the 15 fungal species was tested with dissolution experiments using powdered granite material (<63 μm). The results showed that the zygomyceteous species Mucor hiemalis, Umbelopsis isabellina and Mortierella alpina dissolved the granite powder most efficiently due to the release of a variety of organic acids, mainly citrate, malate and oxalate. In particular, the high concentrations of Ca, Fe, Mg and Mn in the solutions clustered well with the high amounts of exuded citrate. This is the first report on fungi that were isolated from a non-vegetated glacier forefield in which the fungi's capabilities to dissolve granite minerals were examined.

Speleomycological research in underground Osówka complex in Sowie Mountains (Lower Silesia, Poland)

“…(Tables 3-5). It is in accordance with work of other authors, who report that most abundant fungal genera isolated from rocks, and from granite in particular, were fungi from the order Mucorales, and Penicillium, Phoma, Auerobasidium, and Trichoderma (Hirsch et al, 1995;Burford et al, 2003a, b;Brunner et al, 2011). However, Ogórek et al (2013) have reported that most isolated fungus from the rocks of Niedźwiedzia Cave in Kletno is Rhizopus stolonifer.…”

Weathering of Granite from the Damma Glacier Area: The Contribution of Cyanogenic Bacteria

“…Soil microbes play an essential role in the environment by contributing to bioavailability of nutrients from primary minerals that are required not only for their own nutrition but also for that of plants. Even in harsh conditions of glacier forefields, microbes can endure due to their mineral-weathering ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT 3 abilities (Hall et al 2005;Frey et al 2010;Brunner et al 2011). Microbial weathering mechanisms include acidification, the effect of metabolites (e.g.…”

Potential sources of microbial colonizers in an initial soil ecosystem after retreat of an alpine glacier

“…However, inputs of C, N (as DON, nitrate and ammonium) and other nutrients (for example, sulphate and phosphate) from atmospheric deposition represent important inputs to nutrient and C pools, which are known to be small in barren soils (Bernasconi et al, 2011;Smittenberg et al, 2012). Therefore, these inputs may facilitate the establishment of pioneer microbial communities in the mineral debris (Frey et al, 2010(Frey et al, , 2013Brunner et al, 2011). The simultaneous investigation of bacterial and fungal communities present in atmospheric deposition, endogenous glacial habitats and barren soils revealed interesting patterns.…”