Deciphering the presence and activity of fungal communities in marine sediments using a model estuarine system

AME Aquatic Microbial Ecology Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsSpecials AME 70:45-62 (2013) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/ame01638 Deciphering the presence and activity of fungal communities in marine sediments using a model estuarine system Gaëtan Burgaud1,*, Sarah Woehlke2, Vanessa Rédou1, William Orsi3, David Beaudoin3, Georges Barbier1, Jennifer F. Biddle2, Virginia P. Edgcomb3 1Laboratoire Universitaire de Biodiversité et Ecologie Microbienne (EA3882), IFR 148, Université Européenne de Bretagne, Université de Brest, ESIAB, Technopole Brest-Iroise, Parvis Blaise Pascal, Plouzané 29280, France 2College of Earth, Ocean and the Environment, University of Delaware, Lewes, Delaware 19958, USA 3Geology and Geophysics Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, USA *Email: gaetan.burgaud@univ-brest.fr ABSTRACT: Fungi are known to play key roles in ecologically important biogeochemical cycles and food webs. Most knowledge of environmental groups of fungi comes from terrestrial environments, and little is known about the potential for terrestrial fungi to colonize marine environments. We investigated the Delaware River estuary and bay as a model estuarine system to study the fungal community changes occurring along a transect from terrestrially influenced waters and sediments to a higher salinity, truly marine system. DNA-based clone libraries and a culture collection built using subseafloor sediment samples revealed that Ascomycota dominated the detected diversity ahead of Basidiomycota and Chytridiomycota. A clear transition in fungal communities from terrestrially influenced and low salinity environments to marine environments was visualized. A complementary RNA-based analysis coupled with fluorescence in situ hybridization of sediments indicated that only few fungi were metabolically active in marine sediments. Cultivation of pelagic and sedimentary fungi allowed clear identification and physiology testing of fungal communities of the Delaware Bay. Most isolates were affiliated to Ascomycota and Basidiomycota, and their growth was analyzed under different concentrations of salinity to test for habitat preference and degree of adaptability. Interestingly, most of the fungi isolated were halotolerant. The present study informs us on the source and fate of fungi that may be buried in the deep marine subsurface and is informative for future investigations of this environment. KEY WORDS: Fungi · Subsurface sediments · Delaware Bay · DNA · cDNA · Cultivation Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Burgaud G, Woehlke S, Rédou V, Orsi W and others (2013) Deciphering the presence and activity of fungal communities in marine sediments using a model estuarine system. Aquat Microb Ecol 70:45-62. https://doi.org/10.3354/ame01638 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in AME Vol. 70, No. 1. Online publication date: August 06, 2013 Print ISSN: 0948-3055; Online ISSN: 1616-1564 Copyright © 2013 Inter-Research.