Dark stains on rock surfaces in Driny Cave (Little Carpathian Mountains, Slovakia)

Abstract

Mycobiota are important in underground ecology. In 2014, we discovered dark stains on clayey sediments on the walls of Driny Cave, Slovakia. Our description is based on the morphology of the fungus and the phylogenetic relationships of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region. In addition, data on its capacity for the production of extracellular enzymes, growth, and survival in vitro at different temperatures are reported. Our analyses revealed that this dark stains on the wall was produced by Penicillium glandicola. The fungus was able to synthesize amylases, proteases and cellulases, but not pectinases and keratinases. The vegetative structures of mycelium of this fungus are viable in vitro after storage at cool temperatures (from −72 to 5 °C), and show active growth at temperatures from 5 to 25 °C, but without spore germination, and without active growth at 30 and 37 °C. Penicillium glandicola is a psychrotolerant species and belong to var. glandicola.

First Report on the Occurence of Dermatophytes of Microsporum Cookei Clade and Close Affinities to Paraphyton Cookei in the Harmanecká Cave (Veľká Fatra Mts., Slovakia)

“…In 2014, it was visited by approximately 17,425 tourists [16,17]. The overall length of the cave is 3,123 m, with a tourist route 1029 m long [15,18]. The air temperature fluctuates from 5.8 to 6.4 • C. The cave is one the most significant sites of bat occurrence in Slovakia.…”

“…The experiment was performed according to Ogórek et al [18]. Thirty fragments (2 cm) of blonde purified and sterile hair from a 2.5-year-old child were placed in a polystyrene Petri dish.…”

“…The experiment was carried out according to the method described by Ogórek et al [18]. Fourteen-day-old fungal cultures on slants with PDA and YPG media (yeast extract peptone glucose: (14,28,42, and 56 days) at each temperature, the fungal inocula (from three slants for each medium) were placed mycelium down in the center of PDA and YPG plates, in three replicates for each medium.…”

“…The first variant of the experiment using fungal spores was carried out according to Ogórek et al [18]. Fungal spores (14-day-old cultures on PDA slant) were suspended in a solution of 0.85% NaCl with 0.025% Tween 80 (OD600 = 0.125,~0.5 McFarland).…”

High cellulolytic activities in filamentous fungi isolated from an extreme oligotrophic subterranean environment (Catão cave) in Brazil

“…Subterranean environments such as caves can be considered extreme environments that provide highly specialized niches (engel 2007) but, so far, they have been overlooked regarding its potential for new genetic resources. For this reason, there are few reports assessing the cellulolytic potential of microorganisms from caves (Ogórek et al 2016, Paula et al 2016, Rautela et al 2017). According to lynd et al (2002) in extreme environments, such as caves, microorganisms tend to use a broad range of carbohydrates, probably as a consequence of the small amount of cellulose input combined with the presence of few competing species in these habitats.…”