The culturable mycobiota of Flabellia petiolata: First survey of marine fungi associated to a Mediterranean green alga

Abstract

Algae-inhabiting marine fungi represent a taxonomically and ecologically interesting group of microorganisms still largely neglected, especially in temperate regions. The aim of this study was to isolate and to identify the culturable mycobiota associated with Flabellia petiolata, a green alga frequently retrieved in the Mediterranean basin. Twenty algal thalli were collected from two different sampling sites in the Mediterranean Sea (Elba Island, Italy). A polyphasic approach showed the presence of a relevant alga-associated mycobiota with 64 taxa identified. The fungal isolates belonged mainly to Ascomycota (61 taxa), while only three Basidiomycota were detected. The phylogenetic position of sterile mycelia and cryptic taxa, inferred on the basis of LSU partial region, highlighted the presence of putative new phylogenetic lineages within Dothideomycetes and Sordariomycetes. This work represents the first quali-quantitative analysis of the culturable mycobiota associated to a green alga in the Mediterranean Sea.

News from the Sea: A New Genus and Seven New Species in the Pleosporalean Families Roussoellaceae and Thyridariaceae

“…Therefore, we were unable to describe the range of anatomical variations and diagnostic features among these newly recognized phylogenetic lineages. Indeed, strictly vegetative growth without sporulation is a common feature of many marine fungal strains [10,11,33]. Possibly, these organisms rely on hyphal fragmentation for their dispersal, or alternatively, the differentiation of reproductive structures may be obligatorily dependent on the peculiar environmental conditions under which they live (e.g., wet-dry cycles, high salinity, low temperature, high pressure, etc.).…”

“…In recent surveys aimed to uncover the underwater fungal diversity, 19 unidentified Roussoellaceae were isolated from several substrates, as follows: 12 from the brown alga Padina pavonica (L.) Thivy [10], 4 from the green alga Flabellia petiolata (Turra) Nizamuddin [11], 2 from the seagrass Posidonia oceanica (L.) [12] Delile, and 1 from the Atlantic sponge Dysidea fragilis (Montagu) [13]. The Roussoellaceae is a well-resolved family in the Pleosporales [14].…”

Isolation, molecular characterization and virome analysis of culturable wood fungal endophytes in esca symptomatic and asymptomatic grapevine plants

“…Hence, we obtained three biological replicates for asymptomatic wood tissues and three biological replicates for the symptomatic wood tissues. Identification of fungal isolate was carried out through morphological observation and sequencing of the Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) regions ITS1 and ITS2 of the ribosomal DNA (rDNA), following protocols described elsewhere (Gnavi et al, 2017). DNA was extracted with phenol/chloroform and 10 ng were used as template in PCR amplification protocol.…”

Self‐assembly of two hydrophobins from marine fungi affected by interaction with surfaces

“…The two proteins under study, named Pac2 and Pac3, were extracted from the marine strains P. roseopurpureum MUT 4892 and A. sclerotigenum MUT 4872, respectively. The two fungal strains, isolated nearby Elba Island in the Mediterranean Sea as described elsewhere, were provided by the Mycotheca Universitatis Taurinensis (MUT) (Cicatiello et al, ; Gnavi et al, ). Mycelia, were maintained at 4 °C through periodic transfer on plates in the presence of XNST30 (malt extract 3 g/L, yeast extract 3 g/L, sodium chloride (from 7 to 30 g/L); 10 g/L glucose, 5 g/L peptone).…”