Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Filamentous ascomycete and basidiomycete fungi from beach sand

  • Published:
Rendiconti Lincei Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The beach environment harbours filamentous fungi from several genera that played an important role as primary degraders of organic substrates in the beach ecosystem. In this study, filamentous fungi were isolated from beach sand collected along Batu Ferringhi and Teluk Bahang beach areas, Penang Island, Peninsular Malaysia. A total of 260 isolates of filamentous fungi were isolated and identified based on ITS sequences. Based on the closest match of BLAST search, 90 sequences were identified to species level. Ascomycetes showed higher occurrences in the beach sand samples compared to basidiomycetes. Only seven species of basidiomycetes were recovered from the beach sand samples. The total number of filamentous fungal genera identified was 50 with highest occurrences of Aspergillus (39.6 %) and Penicillium (17.6 %). Filamentous fungi from other genera were detected at a relatively low occurrences ranging from 0.3 to 3.4 %. The present study showed that beach sand harbours a variety of filamentous fungi which can be saprotrophic and potentially pathogenic. This study contributes to the knowledge on the occurrence and diversity of filamentous fungi in beach sand in Malaysia providing information for future researches that involve human, marine, and plant pathology.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Chowdhary A, Agarwal K, Kathuria S, Singh PK, Roy P, Gaur SN, de Hoog GS, Meis JF (2013) Clinical significance of filamentous basidiomycetes illustrated by isolates of the novel opportunist Ceriporia lacerata from the human respiratory tract. J Clin Microbiol 51(2):585–590

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cortez KJ, Roilides E, Quiroz-Telles F, Meletiadis J, Antachopoulos C, Knudsen T, Buchanan W, Milanovich J, Sutton DA, Fothergill A, Rinaldi MG, Shea YR, Zaoutis T, Kottilil S, Walsh TJ (2008) Infections caused by Scedosporium spp. Clin Microbiol Rev 21(1):157–197

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • de Hoog GS, Guarro J, Gené J, Figuera MJ (2000) Atlas of clinical fungi, 2nd edn. Centrallbureau voor Schimmelcultures, Utrecht

    Google Scholar 

  • De Moura Sarquis MI, De Oliveira PC (1996) Diversity of microfungi in the sandy soil of Ipanema Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. J Basic Microbiol 36(1):51–58

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dunn PH, Baker GE (1984) Filamentous fungal population of Hawaiian beaches. Pac Sci 38(3):232–248

    Google Scholar 

  • Gomes D, Cavalcanti M, Fernandes M, Lima D, Passavante J (2008) Filamentous fungi isolated from sand and water of “Bairro Novo” and “Casa Caiada” beaches, Olinda, Pernambuco, Brazil. Braz J Biol 68(3):577–582

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • González MdC, Herrera T, Ulloa M, Hanlin RT (1998) Abundance and diversity of microfungi in three coastal beaches of Mexico. Mycoscience 39(2):115–121

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • James SA, Collins MD, Roberts IN (1996) Use of an rRNA internal transcribed spacer region to distinguish phylogenetically closely related species of the genera Zygosaccharomyces and Torulaspora. Int J Syst Bacteriol 46(1):189–194

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Larrondo JV, Calvo MA (1989) Fungal density in the sands of the Mediterranean coast beaches. Mycopathologia 108(3):185–193

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mancini L, D’Angelo AM, Pierdominici E, Ferrari C, Anselmo A, Venturi L, Fazzo L, Formichetti P, Iaconelli M, Pennelli B (2005) Microbiological quality of Italian beach sands. Microchem J 79(1–2):257–261

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Matavulj M, Vulikiã N, Gojkoviã I, Karaman M (2005) Conditionally pathogenic fungi in recreational waters. Proc Nat Sci Matica Srpska Novi Sad 109:149–160

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mudryk ZJ, Podgorska B (2007) Culturable microorganisms in sandy beaches in South Baltic Sea. Pol J Ecol 55(2):221–231

    Google Scholar 

  • Oliveira LGD, Cavalcanti MADQ, Passavante JZDO, Fernandes MJDS, Lima DMDM (2011) Filamentous fungi isolated from Candeias Beach, Pernambuco, Brazil. Hoehnea 38(2):215–220

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peay KG, Kennedy PG, Bruns TD (2008) Fungal community ecology: a hybrid beast with a molecular master. Bioscience 58(9):799–810

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pereira E, Figueira C, Aguiar N, Vasconcelos R, Vasconcelos S, Calado G, Brandão J, Prada S (2013) Microbiological and mycological beach sand quality in a volcanic environment: Madeira archipelago, Portugal. Sci Total Environ 461–462:469–479

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phillott AD, Parmente CJ, Limpus CJ (2004) The occurrence of mycobiota in eastern Australian sea turtle nests. Mem Qld Mus 49(2):701–703

    Google Scholar 

  • Pitt JI (1994) The current role of Aspergillus and Penicillium in human and animal health. J Med Vet Mycologia 32(Suppl 1):17–32

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rai MK (1989) Mycosis in Man Due to Arthrinium phaeospermum var. indicum. First case report. Mycoses 32(9):472–475

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Richter S, Cormican MG, Pfaller MA, Lee CK, Gingrich R, Rinaldi MG, Sutton DA (1999) Fatal disseminated Trichoderma longibrachiatum infection in an adult bone marrow transplant patient: species identification and review of the literature. J Clin Microbiol 37(4):1154–1160

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sabino R, Veríssimo C, Cunha MA, Wergikoski B, Ferreira FC, Rodrigues R, Parada H, Falcão L, Rosado L, Pinheiro C, Paixão E, Brandão J (2011) Pathogenic fungi: an unacknowledged risk at coastal resorts? New insights on microbiological sand quality in Portugal. Mar Poll Bull 62(7):1506–1511

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schoch CL, Seifert KA, Huhndorf S, Robert V, Spouge JL, Levesque CA, Chen W, Fungal Barcoding Consortium (2012) Nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region as a universal DNA barcode marker for fungi. Proc Natl Acad Sci 109(16):6241–6246

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Solo-Gabriele HM, Harwood VJ, Kay D, Fujioka RS, Sadowsky MJ, Richard LW, Wither A, Caniça M, da Carvalho FR, Duarte A, Edge TA, Gargaté MJ, Gunde-Cimerman N, Hagen F, McLellan SL, Nogueira da Silva A, Babič MN, Prada S, Rodrigues R, Romão D, Sabino R, Samson RA, Segal E, Staley C, Taylor HD, Veríssimo C, Viegas C, Barroso H, Brandão JC (2016) Beach sand and the potential for infectious disease transmission: observations and recommendations. J Mar Biol Assoc UK 96(1):101–120

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soussi M, Boutayeb H, Guessous N (2007) Fungal flora from the sand of two beaches of Casablanca: analysis and epidemiological corollary. J Mycol Med 17(1):58–62

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sutton DA (1999) Coelomycetous fungi in human disease. A review: clinical entities, pathogenesis, identification and therapy. Rev Iberoam Micol 16(4):171–179

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wells JM, Donnelly DP, Boddy L (1997) Patch formation and developmental polarity in mycelial-cord systems of Phanerochaete velutina on a nutrient-depleted soil. New Phytol 136(4):653–665

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White TJ, Bruns T, Lee S, Taylor J (1990) Amplification and direct sequencing of fungal ribosomal RNA genes for phylogenetics. In: Innis MA, Gelfand DH, Sninsky JJ, White TJ (eds) PCR protocols: a guide to methods and applications. Academic Press Inc, San Diego, pp 315–322

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitman R, Harwood VJ, Edge TA, Nevers M, Byappanahalli M, Vijayavel K, Brandão J, Sadowsky MJ, Alm EW, Crowe A, Ferguson DGEZ, Halliday E, Kinzelman J, Kleinheinz G, Przybyla-Kelly K, Staley C, Staley Z, Solo-Gabriele HM (2014) Microbes in beach sands: integrating environment, ecology and public health. Rev Environ Sci Biotechn 13(3):329–368

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organization (2003) Guidelines for safe recreational water environments. Coastal and Fresh Waters, vol 1. World Health Organization, Geneva

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), 11800, Penang, Malaysia

    Teh Li Yee, Rosnida Tajuddin, Nik Mohd Izham Mohamed Nor, Masratul Hawa Mohd & Latiffah Zakaria

Authors
  1. Teh Li Yee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Rosnida Tajuddin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Nik Mohd Izham Mohamed Nor
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Masratul Hawa Mohd
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Latiffah Zakaria
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Latiffah Zakaria.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (doc 717 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Yee, T.L., Tajuddin, R., Mohamed Nor, N.M.I. et al. Filamentous ascomycete and basidiomycete fungi from beach sand. Rend. Fis. Acc. Lincei 27, 603–607 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12210-016-0535-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12210-016-0535-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation