Home • Exophiala viscosa JF 03-3F Goopy CBS 148801 v1.0
JF 03-3F “Goopy”
Figure 1: JF 03-3F “Goopy” microscopy image. Morphology of this isolate is yeast, as observed in this image. Growth conditions of this isolate was on an MEA plate for 5 days of growth, then the fungus was scrapped off and diluted in water to obtain a planktonic cell solution for imaging. Thick cell walls typical of black yeast fungi and circular lipid bodies inside the cells are observed in this image. Photo credit: Christian Elowsky.
JF 03-3F “Goopy”
Figure 2: JF 03-3F “Goopy” plate image. This fungus was grown on an MEA plate for 10 days when this photo was taken. Its highly melanized cell wall is easily observed by the dark black color of its colonies. It forms smooth, shiny, circular colonies that are easily spread across a plate. After a long enough growth time this isolate will begin to become iridescent as seen above. Photo credit: Christian Elowsky.

JF 03-3F

JF 03-3F is an unknown black yeast fungal culture whose highest hit on the NCBI database is Eurotiomycetes sp. Voucher ARIZ: SR0058 (KP991853.1); 97% matching. Black yeast fungi are recognized as polyextremotolerant fungi because of their high resistance to many stressors (Gostinčar et al., 2012). In addition, the name “black yeast fungi” refers to both their morphology and their highly melanized cell wall (Gostinčar et al., 2012). This black yeast was isolated as part of a broader survey of fungal-algal associations in dryland Biological Soil Crusts (BSCs). It was recovered from a BSC community located in Jackman Flats Provincial Park (B.C., Canada). JF 03-3F possesses a simplified morphology that does not include the presence of pseudohyphae or true hyphae. It does have difficulty spreading in water due to a highly hydrophobic cell surface. No teleomorphic state has yet been observed for JF 03-3F but that is typical of black yeast fungi (Untereriner et al., 1995). Extensive phenotyping shows that this isolate can use all standard nitrogen sources to support growth, but it is deficient in the use of several carbon sources. Moreover, JF 03-3 is resistant to several metals, but not nickel or cadmium. Its optimal growth temperature is 22°C, although it was able to grow at 27°C as well. Growth at 37°C, 42°C, and 4°C was severely stunted compared to 22°C, suggesting that growth above 27°C is not optimal.

References

    •    Gostinčar, C., Muggia, L., & Grube, M. (2012). Polyextremotolerant black fungi: oligotrophism, adaptive potential, and a link to lichen symbioses. Frontiers in microbiology, 3, 390.
    •    Untereiner, W. A., Straus, N. A., & Malloch, D. (1995). A molecular-morphotaxonomic approach to the systematics of the Herpotrichiellaceae and allied black yeasts. Mycological Research, 99(8), 897-913.

Genome Reference(s)