Abstract
The diversity, composition, and abundance of soil fungi from three sacred groves in Kerala, namely Iringole kavu of Ernakulam District, Kollakal Thapovanam of Alappuzha District, and Poyilkavu of Kozhikode District were analysed using Metagenomics analysis and Illumina sequencing. A total of 30,584, 78,323, and 55,640 reads were obtained from these groves, respectively. Ascomycota constitutes over 96% of the total fungi, making it the most abundant phylum, followed by Mortierellomycota, Basidiomycota, Chytridiomycota, and Rozellomycota. These phyla were subdivided into 20 classes, 40 orders, 83 families, 119 genera, and 135 species, while 1269 OTUs remained unidentified at the species level. Eurotiomycetes predominates the class, while the genus Talaromyces from the family Trichomaceae dominates the genera. Neocarmospora falciformis, Trichoderma lixii, and Candida ethanolic are the most abundant fungal species. Diversity analysis shows that Kollakal Thapovanam is rich in fungal species, while Poyilkavu is rich in biodiversity, with a high degree of dominance. Several species were found only in a particular grove and were absent in others and vice-versa, indicating high fungal specificity. Therefore, fungi have to be preserved in their original habitat. The Principal Coordinate Analysis revealed that each grove is distinct highlighting the importance of preserving the unique diversity of each sacred grove. In conclusion, this research provides valuable information about the soil fungal genera in their natural habitat. It emphasizes the need for more systematic research to understand the actual diversity and ecological role of fungi in sacred groves. This study is the first of its kind to analyse and compare soil fungal diversity in sacred groves using the metagenomics approach.
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The datasets generated during and /or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
The author’s acknowledged the OmicsGen LifeSciences Pvt Ltd Labs for the use of Illumina MiSeq and DST-FIST sponsored Lab, Department of Botany and Library, St. Thomas College (Autonomous), Thrissur for their assistance.
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All authors contributed to the study’s conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by KN. The first draft of the manuscript was written by KN and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All the authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Nandakumar, K., Anto, P.V. & Antony, I. Diversity of soil fungi from sacred groves of Kerala, India revealed by comparative metagenomics analysis using illumina sequencing. 3 Biotech 14, 79 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13205-024-03932-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13205-024-03932-9