Coalescent fruit bodies of Digitatispora marina on wood. Photo credit: Teppo Rämä, University of Tromsø – the Arctic University of Norway

Digitatispora marina Doguet

Digitatispora marina is one of the few Agaricomycetes species described in marine habitats. It forms small, thin, crust-like fruiting bodies on wooden logs and branches in temperate waters. The fungus uses a white-rot strategy for wood decay and may be a relevant enzyme source for biofuel purposes, as it shows the highest decay rates among marine white-rot fungi at temperatures <10 °C and cellulase, laccase and peroxidase activity in seawater (Molitoris and Schaumann, 1986, Rohrmann and Molitoris, 1992) . The genome sequence will support ongoing basic and applied research work.

Reference(s)

Molitoris, H.P. and Schaumann, K. (1986). Physiology of marine fungi. A screening programme for marine fungi. In: Moss, S.T. (eds.). Biology of marine fungi. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Rohrmann, S. and Molitoris, H.P. (1992). Screening for wood-degrading enzymes in marine fungi. Can. J. Botany. 70, 2116-2123.