RESUMO
Marine fungi remain poorly covered in global genome sequencing campaigns; the 1000 fungal genomes (1KFG) project attempts to shed light on the diversity, ecology and potential industrial use of overlooked and poorly resolved fungal taxa. This study characterizes the genomes of three marine fungi: Emericellopsis sp. TS7, wood-associated Amylocarpus encephaloides and algae-associated Calycina marina. These species were genome sequenced to study their genomic features, biosynthetic potential and phylogenetic placement using multilocus data. Amylocarpus encephaloides and C. marina were placed in the Helotiaceae and Pezizellaceae (Helotiales), respectively, based on a 15-gene phylogenetic analysis. These two genomes had fewer biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) and carbohydrate active enzymes (CAZymes) than Emericellopsis sp. TS7 isolate. Emericellopsis sp. TS7 (Hypocreales, Ascomycota) was isolated from the sponge Stelletta normani. A six-gene phylogenetic analysis placed the isolate in the marine Emericellopsis clade and morphological examination confirmed that the isolate represents a new species, which is described here as E. atlantica. Analysis of its CAZyme repertoire and a culturing experiment on three marine and one terrestrial substrates indicated that E. atlantica is a psychrotrophic generalist fungus that is able to degrade several types of marine biomass. FungiSMASH analysis revealed the presence of 35 BGCs including, eight non-ribosomal peptide synthases (NRPSs), six NRPS-like, six polyketide synthases, nine terpenes and six hybrid, mixed or other clusters. Of these BGCs, only five were homologous with characterized BGCs. The presence of unknown BGCs sets and large CAZyme repertoire set stage for further investigations of E. atlantica. The Pezizellaceae genome and the genome of the monotypic Amylocarpus genus represent the first published genomes of filamentous fungi that are restricted in their occurrence to the marine habitat and form thus a valuable resource for the community that can be used in studying ecological adaptions of fungi using comparative genomics.
RESUMO
During a research cruise in 2016, we isolated fungi from sediments, seawater, driftwood, fruiting bodies, and macroalgae using three different media to assess species richness and potential bioactivity of cultivable marine fungi in the High Arctic region. Ten stations from the Svalbard archipelago (73-80 °N, 18-31 °E) were investigated and 33 fungal isolates were obtained. These grouped into 22 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) using nuc rDNA internal transcribed spacer regions (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 = ITS) with acut-off set at 98% similarity. The taxonomic analysis showed that 17 OTUs belonged to Ascomycota, one to Basidiomycota, two to Mucoromycota and two were fungal-like organisms. The nuc rDNA V1-V5 regions of 18S (18S) and D1-D3 regions of 28S (28S) were sequenced from representative isolates of each OTU for comparison to GenBank sequences. Isolates of Lulworthiales and Eurotiales were the most abundant, with seven isolates each. Among the 22 OTUs, nine represent potentially undescribed species based on low similarity to GenBank sequences and 10 isolates showed inhibitory activity against Gram-positive bacteria in an agar diffusion plug assay. These results show promise for the Arctic region as asource of novel marine fungi with the ability to produce bioactive secondary metabolites with antibacterial properties.
