Image Credit: Mariana Kluge
Microbotryomycetes (former Oberwinklerozyma sp.) - isolate P2C70
The Microbotryomycetes, a class within the Basidiomycota, consists of mainly mycoparasites, saprobic yeasts, and plant pathogens (Oberwinkler, 2017). Yeasts of these groups have been found in the Arctic and Antarctic (Turchetti et al., 2011; Perini et al., 2021). The isolate P2C70 has been isolated from the sediment of thermokarst ponds in Abisko, Sweden. Thermokarst ponds, which emerge from the thawing permafrost, can be hotspots for microbial production and become an important source of greenhouse gas emissions (Abnizova et al., 2012). However, little is known about the fungal contribution in such water bodies when it comes to carbon degradation. The genome sequencing of fungal isolates from these environments aims to assess their functional potential, and to better understand the fungal contribution to permafrost carbon feedback.
References:
- Oberwinkler, 2017. Yeasts in Pucciniomycotina. Mycological Progress volume 16, pages831–856(2017)
- Turchetti et al., 2011. Psychrophilic yeasts from Antarctica and European glaciers: description of Glaciozyma gen. nov., Glaciozyma martinii sp. nov. and Glaciozyma watsonii sp. nov. Extremophiles volume 15, Article number: 573 (2011)
- Perini et al., 2021. Greenland and Svalbard glaciers host unknown basidiomycetes: the yeast Camptobasidium arcticum sp. nov. and the dimorphic Psychromyces glacialis gen. and sp. nov. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol, 2021
- Abnizova et al., 2012. Small ponds with major impact: The relevance of ponds and lakes in permafrost landscapes to carbon dioxide emissions. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, Vol 26, Issue 2.
