The Horizontal and Vertical Distribution of Deep-Sea Sediments Fungal Community in the South China Sea

Abstract

Although diverse fungi have been found in the deep-sea habitats, the space distribution of fungi has not been well characterized. In this study, the fungal horizontal and vertical distribution of the deep-sea sediments, four locations, three depths each, in the South China Sea, were compared using ITS2 high-throughput sequencing. It was revealed that the South China Sea deep-sea sediments harbor diverse marine fungi, including 82.39% Ascomycota, 8.10% Basidiomycota, 0.55% Zygomycota and 8.96% unknown fungi. The results indicate that fungal community structure is not uniform among the different sediment habitats. Though surface sediments have similar fungal diversity across the 4 locations, the fungal abundance and diversity increase with the depth of the sediments from 0 to 2 m, and 1 and 2 m deep sediments show obvious location-dependent fungal community structure. This is the first time to compare the horizontal and vertical distribution of fungal community among different deep-sea sediments in the South China Sea by high-throughput sequencing, providing novel insights into the space distribution characteristics of deep-sea sediments fungi.

Fungal diversity in sediments of the eastern tropical Pacific oxygen minimum zone revealed by metabarcoding

“…Our findings at the small-scale (0 vs 20 cm sediment depth) revealed a heterogeneous fungal community assemblage, with most ASV (76.20%) restricted to a single subsample ( Fig 7 ). These compositional differences have also been registered in the Peru Margin and Peru Trench [ 30 ], Central Indian Basin [ 41 ], Canterbury Basin [ 38 ], and South China Sea [ 32 ], hinting at the differential occupation of vertical microniches in the sediment by fungi. In this context, environmental filtering observed in bacteria [ 90 – 92 ] may influence the establishment of some fungal ASV according to the niche requirements of the species.…”

“…Fungal communities in surface sediments sampled along a bathymetric transect have generally shown large variations in their composition [ 29 – 31 ]; in contrast, surface sediments along the South China Sea showed similarity to each other [ 32 ]. Overall, fungal diversity figures are higher at nearshore than offshore benthic sites [ 33 , 34 ], perhaps because of the sediment source, geographic distance, or site-specific environmental factors [ 32 , 33 , 35 , 36 ].…”

“…In these sediments, fungi have been considered the dominant eukaryotic kingdom [ 30 ] and the third most abundant microbial component (after Bacteria and Archaea; [ 38 ]). Within vertical gradients, fungal composition can be highly variable at the small-scale (<100 cm below seafloor; [ 29 , 41 ]) and the large-scale (>100 cm below seafloor; [ 30 , 32 , 38 ] by the possible influence of site-specific conditions. However, to the extent of our knowledge, fungal diversity in the Mexican OMZ remains unexplored, resulting in a limited understanding of the community structure and its importance in the ecosystem.…”

High hydrostatic pressure harnesses the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites via the regulation of polyketide synthesis genes of hadal sediment-derived fungi

“…Due to limitations of sampling equipment, research on fungi from hadal sediments is even scarcer ( Skropeta, 2008 ). In recent years, studies of deep-sea fungi using culture and metagenomics methods have provided evidence for the existence of fungi in deep-sea habitats ( Feng et al, 2021 ). Most cultivable and non-cultivable fungi from the deep sea show homology to species described in terrestrial environments ( Raghukumar et al, 2010 ).…”

Grain Size Characteristics of Surface Sediments and Their Migration Trends in the Nearshore Waters of East Guangdong

“…Studying the variation in sediment grain size distribution characteristics in a region can reflect the characteristics of hydrodynamic conditions in the region, and the changes in sediment migration trends and sediment supply conditions [7][8][9][10]. The study of the transport and provenance tracing of marine sediments can also be explored through clay minerals [11], heavy minerals [12] and trace elements [13]. Clay mineral tracing is generally used for deep-sea environments, while heavy mineral tracing is more applicable to rivers and nearshore areas.…”