Fungal diversity in deep-sea environments

Abstract

Fungi are one of the most important components in ecosystems and they occupy a wide variety of environments by virtue of their highly versatile physiology function. Recently, the presence of fungi in one of the extreme environments, deep-sea, has started to be recognized. In this article, recent scientific findings through the investigation of fungal diversity in deep-sea sediments collected from several deep-sea environments, including water depths of 10,000 m and methane cold-seep sites were described. PCR-mediated analysis revealed the presence of diverse highly novel fungal phylotypes, including new taxonomic groups placed in deep branches within the phylum of Chytridiomycota with Rozella spp. as the closest related organisms, which may provide key insights into the early evolution of fungi.