Mycobiota associated with the rhodophyte alien species Asparagopsis taxiformis (Delile) Trevisan de Saint‐Léon in the Mediterranean Sea

Abstract

This study is the first to investigate and characterize the mycobiota associated with the alien species Asparagopsis taxiformis, a rhodophyte classified as one of the '100 Worst Invasive Species' in the Mediterranean Sea as it threatens biodiversity. Fungal endophyte and epiphyte communities were investigated on algal specimens from two sampling sites on the island of Linosa (MPA Isole Pelagie, Italy). 87% of the 24 specimens that were analysed for epiphytes displayed a microfungal colonization. No endophytes were found. Only a small amount of microfungi were found to be associated with this alga. Only five fungal taxa were isolated; two of which are sporadically associated to the alga, while three of which, Eurotium rubrum, Cladosporium cladosporioides and C. pseudocladosporioides, seem to be closely related to A. taxiformis. This scarcity could be related to algal chemical composition.

Diversity and bioactivity of fungi associated with the marine sea cucumber Holothuria poli : disclosing the strains potential for biomedical applications

“…To overcome this lack of knowledge and encrypt the real microbial biodiversity existing in the sea, the isolation and identification of fungal communities living in association with new substrates is an essential task. Several studies investigated the mycobiota existing in the Mediterranean Sea, mainly focusing on algae, sponges and seagrasses (Garzoli et al 2014; Gnavi et al 2017; Bovio et al 2019), describing particular marine fungal communities living in association with marine organisms. The up to date picture shows over 200 fungal species isolated from Mediterranean substrates, with several recurring taxa such as Aspergillus , Penicillium and Acremonium .…”

Revealing the hidden diversity of marine fungi in Portugal with the description of two novel species, Neoascochyta fuci sp. nov. and Paraconiothyrium salinum sp. nov.

“…In this context, coastal marine environments, despite being known as part of highly productive ecosystems, remain poorly investigated regarding the biodiversity of their mycobiota. Some diversity studies are available, in particular regarding algicolous [1,[30][31][32] and lignicolous fungi [33,34], sponges [35], sediments and seawater [26,28,29] and marine animals [36].…”

Indolediketopiperazine Alkaloids from Eurotium cristatum EN-220, an Endophytic Fungus Isolated from the Marine Alga Sargassum thunbergii

“…Most of the algicolous fungi distributed in the genera of Aspergillus and Penicillium , which belong to the facultative marine fungi that were frequently discovered from different groups of algae [ 1 , 2 ]. However, four strains of the fungal genus Eurotium including E. cristatum [ 3 ], E. rubrum [ 4 ], Eurotium sp. [ 5 ], and E. herbariorum [ 6 ], have been characterized from the brown alga of Sargassum thunbergii [ 3 ], red alga of Asparagopsis taxiformis [ 4 ] and Bostrychia tenella [ 5 ], and green alga of Epiactis prolifera [ 6 ].…”

“…However, four strains of the fungal genus Eurotium including E. cristatum [ 3 ], E. rubrum [ 4 ], Eurotium sp. [ 5 ], and E. herbariorum [ 6 ], have been characterized from the brown alga of Sargassum thunbergii [ 3 ], red alga of Asparagopsis taxiformis [ 4 ] and Bostrychia tenella [ 5 ], and green alga of Epiactis prolifera [ 6 ]. Compared to its unknown ecological role, the fungal genus Eurotium has attracted more interests on its profilic source of indolediketopiperazine derivatives containing L -tryptophan and L -alanine units, generally characterized by a reverse isoprene chain at C-2 of the indole nucleus [ 3 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ].…”