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Cold Adapted Fungi from Indian Himalaya: Untapped Source for Bioprospecting

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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, India Section B: Biological Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Cold adapted microorganisms are gaining importance in view of their ability to colonize extreme low temperature environments. These microorganisms are emerging as promising source of bioactive metabolites. The Himalaya represent one of the 34 globally recognized biodiversity hotspots due to their unique and rich biodiversity. Documentation of microbial diversity from the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) has received attention in the last two decades. The culturable microbial diversity studied in soils from high altitudes in IHR exhibited predominance of cold adapted ascomycetes fungi. Morphological and molecular characterization placed maximum number of these fungal species in the genera Penicillium, Aspergillus, Paecilomyces, Trichoderma, Cladosporium and Phialophora. Polyextremophily (tolerance to a wide range of temperature, pH and salt concentration) was one of the remarkable characteristics of these fungi. Furthermore, elevated sporulation, overproduction of enzymes and bioactive metabolites (pigments, in particular), with respect to temperature stress were observed as other characteristics of these fungi. These characteristics were attributed to the adaptation strategies of these organisms in extreme low temperature environments, along with the ‘‘resilience dependent biotechnological applications’’. Case studies exhibited the importance of ‘‘suboptimal growth conditions’’ in overproduction of metabolites that mediate ecological processes such as lignin degradation, phosphate solubilization and biocontrol.

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Acknowledgements

Dr LMS Palni (former Director) of the Institute (GBPNIHESD) is thanked for supporting this long-term research programme. Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Govt. of India, New Delhi is acknowledged for financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biotechnological Applications Theme, G.B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment and Sustainable Development, Kosi-Katarmal, Almora, Uttarakhand, 263 643, India

    Anita Pandey, Kusum Dhakar, Rahul Jain, Neha Pandey, Ashish Dhyani & Priyanka Adhikari

  2. Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, Tallinn University of Technology, 12618, Tallinn, Estonia

    Vijai K. Gupta

  3. Department of Plant, Soil and Entomological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, 83844-2339, USA

    Rinu Kooliyottil

  4. Crop Genetics Improvement and Biotechnology Laboratory, Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanning, 530007, China

    Mukesh K. Malviya

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  1. Anita Pandey
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  2. Kusum Dhakar
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  3. Rahul Jain
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  4. Neha Pandey
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  9. Priyanka Adhikari
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Correspondence to Anita Pandey.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests to publish this manuscript.

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Significance Statement

The paper aims to review the research work done on culturable fungal diversity with particular reference to Indian Himalayan region. It highlights the characteristics, resilience, applications and the future perspective of the cold adapted fungi.

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Pandey, A., Dhakar, K., Jain, R. et al. Cold Adapted Fungi from Indian Himalaya: Untapped Source for Bioprospecting. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., India, Sect. B Biol. Sci. 89, 1125–1132 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40011-018-1002-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40011-018-1002-0

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