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Penicillium solitum: a mesophilic, psychrotolerant fungus present in marine sediments from Antarctica

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Abstract

Few studies have addressed the diversity of cultivable fungi from marine sediments, especially those from Antarctica. In the present study, we evaluated the presence and distribution of cultivable fungi in marine core sediments obtained from 100, 500, 700 and 1,100 m below the Antarctic Ocean surface. Fifty-two fungal isolates were identified as Penicillium solitum by their physiological and morphological characteristics, and the identity of 12 representative isolates was further confirmed by sequencing of the ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 and β-tubulin genes. P. solitum displayed high sequence similarity to Penicillium taxa that have been described from other marine habitats. Conidial germination of P. solitum occurred at low temperatures and high salinities. In addition, P. solitum displayed extracellular amylasic and esterasic activities. The isolation of P. solitum from marine sediments in Antarctica and its survival at low temperatures and high salt concentrations suggest that it is adapted to the cold and halophilic environment of the Antarctic oceans. Because P. solitum produces extracellular enzymes, it is an interesting eukaryotic model for the study of structure–function relationships during enzymatic biocatalysis and biotransformation under extreme conditions. Marine sediments from Antarctica may represent a unique source for obtaining extremophilic fungi. New studies using different culture media, temperatures ranges and pressure conditions as well as metagenomic techniques can assist in understanding the extremophilic fungal communities in marine sediments across the Antarctic Ocean.

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Acknowledgments

This study had financial and logistic support from the Brazilian Antarctic Program, Marine of Brazil. This work is part of the API activity 403, contributes to Microbiological and Ecological Responses to Global Environmental Changes in Polar Regions, and INCT Criosfera. This work was financially supported by the Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG) and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq). We thank the anonymous reviewers for their comments, which help the quality of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratório de Sistemática e Biomoléculas de Fungos, Departamento de Microbiologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, P. O. Box 486, Belo Horizonte, MG, CEP 31270-901, Brazil

    Vívian N. Gonçalves, Carlos A. Rosa & Luiz H. Rosa

  2. Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

    Lúcia S. Campos

  3. Laboratório de Microbiologia Ambiental, EMBRAPA Meio Ambiente, Jaguariúna, São Paulo, Brazil

    Itamar S. Melo

  4. Instituto Oceanográfico, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

    Vivian H. Pellizari

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  1. Vívian N. Gonçalves
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  3. Itamar S. Melo
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  4. Vivian H. Pellizari
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  5. Carlos A. Rosa
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Correspondence to Luiz H. Rosa.

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Gonçalves, V.N., Campos, L.S., Melo, I.S. et al. Penicillium solitum: a mesophilic, psychrotolerant fungus present in marine sediments from Antarctica. Polar Biol 36, 1823–1831 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-013-1403-8

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