Fungal Diversity and Composition of the Continental Solar Saltern in Añana Salt Valley (Spain)

Abstract

The Añana Salt Valley in Spain is an active continental solar saltern formed 220 million years ago. To date, no fungal genomic studies of continental salterns have been published, although DNA metabarcoding has recently expanded researchers’ ability to study microbial community structures. Accordingly, the aim of this present study was to evaluate fungal diversity using the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) metabarcoding at different locations along the saltern (springs, ponds, and groundwater) to describe the fungal community of this saline environment. A total of 380 fungal genera were detected. The ubiquity of Saccharomyces was observed in the saltern, although other halotolerant and halophilic fungi like Wallemia, Cladosporium, and Trimmatostroma were also detected. Most of the fungi observed in the saltern were saprotrophs. The fungal distribution appeared to be influenced by surrounding conditions, such as the plant and soil contact, cereal fields, and vineyards of this agricultural region.

Understanding Fungi in Glacial and Hypersaline Environments

“…which reflects local geology and environmental conditions. Thus, extremophilic fungi have been isolated worldwide from saltern brines (1,4,23,54,134,140); from magnesium-rich bitterns (136); from the athalassohaline hypersaline waters of the Dead Sea, the Great Salt Lake, and the alkaline Wadi El Natrun in Egypt (5,85,133); from hypersaline industrial effluents in temperate and tropical climates (39,66,72); from cold hypersaline lakes in Antarctica; and from cryopegs in Siberian permafrost (37). As explained below, the survival of these fungi is supported by specialized adaptations at both genomic and phenotypic levels.…”

“…A few studies using culture-independent methods reported fungal DNA in glacial and hypersaline environments (4,29,93,134). These studies showed a considerable diversity of uncultivable fungi (e.g., Chytridiomycota) in glacial environments (8), but none so far in hypersaline environments.…”

A New Genus of the Microascaceae (Ascomycota) Family from a Hypersaline Lagoon in Spain and the Delimitation of the Genus Wardomyces

“…The most commonly isolated fungi from hypersaline lagoons and lakes belong to the families Aspergillaceae, Cladosporiaceae, Hypocreaceae, Pleosporaceae, Saccharomycetaceae, and Teratosphaeriaceae, with members of the Microascaceae family being less frequently recovered [15][16][17][18]. The Microascaceae family was established by Luttrell (1951) to accommodate the genus Microascus [19].…”

Occurrence, Diversity and Anti-Fungal Resistance of Fungi in Sand of an Urban Beach in Slovenia—Environmental Monitoring with Possible Health Risk Implications

“…Fungi need oxygen to decompose organic matter; thus, they are usually present in water, and aerated layers of soil in all geographical regions [ 1 , 2 ]. On the other hand, some genera and species, described as extremophiles, have been isolated also from samples of rocky and sandy deserts [ 3 , 4 ], salterns [ 5 , 6 ], and brine [ 7 ]. Extremophiles do not only survive but are also able to propagate in habitats with combined harsh living conditions, such as high salinity, low water activity, prolonged UV-radiation, drought, and high or low temperatures [ 8 , 9 ].…”