A soil fungus tolerant to extreme acidity and high salt concentrations

Drought meets acid: three new genera in a dothidealean clade of extremotolerant fungi

Fungal strains isolated from rocks and lichens collected in the Antarctic ice-free area of the Victoria Land, one of the coldest and driest habitats on earth, were found in two phylogenetically isolated positions within the subclass Dothideomycetidae. They are here reported as new genera and species, Recurvomyces mirabilisgen. nov., sp. nov. and Elasticomyces elasticusgen. nov., sp. nov. The nearest neighbours within the clades were other rock-inhabiting fungi from dry environments, either cold or hot. Plant-associated Mycosphaerella-like species, known as invaders of leathery leaves in semi-arid climates, are also phylogenetically related with the new taxa. The clusters are also related to the halophilic species Hortaea werneckii, as well as to acidophilic fungi. One of the latter, able to grow at pH 0, is Scytalidium acidophilum, which is ascribed here to the newly validated genus Acidomyces. The ecological implications of this finding are discussed.

Single-Cell Protein Production by the Acid-Tolerant Fungus Scytalidium acidophilum from Acid Hydrolysates of Waste Paper

The bioconversion of waste paper to single-cell protein at pH <1 by Scytalidium acidophilum is described. Waste paper pretreated with 72% H(2)SO(4) at 4 degrees C was diluted with water to a pH of <0.1 and hydrolyzed. This yielded an adequate sugar-containing substrate for the growth of the fungus. A total of 97% of the sugars (glucose, galactose, mannose, xylose, arabinose) in the hydrolysates were converted to cell biomass. Microbial contamination was not observed. Based on the sugars consumed, S. acidophilum produced higher yields in shake cultures than many other Fungi Imperfecti. In aerated cultures, productivity increased, and yields of 43 to 46% containing 44 to 47% crude protein were obtained. This compares favorably with Candida utilis, a yeast used commercially to produce single-cell protein. The chemical constituents and the essential amino acids of the fungal cells were similar to those of other fungi. The nucleic acid content was characteristic of microbes containing low levels of nucleic acid. The advantages of using S. acidophilum for single-cell protein production are discussed.

Metabolically active eukaryotic communities in extremely acidic mine drainage

Acid mine drainage (AMD) microbial communities contain microbial eukaryotes (both fungi and protists) that confer a biofilm structure and impact the abundance of bacteria and archaea and the community composition via grazing and other mechanisms. Since prokaryotes impact iron oxidation rates and thus regulate AMD generation rates, it is important to analyze the fungal and protistan populations. We utilized 18S rRNA and beta-tubulin gene phylogenies and fluorescent rRNA-specific probes to characterize the eukaryotic diversity and distribution in extremely acidic (pHs 0.8 to 1.38), warm (30 to 50 degrees C), metal-rich (up to 269 mM Fe(2+), 16.8 mM Zn, 8.5 mM As, and 4.1 mM Cu) AMD solutions from the Richmond Mine at Iron Mountain, Calif. A Rhodophyta (red algae) lineage and organisms from the Vahlkampfiidae family were identified. The fungal 18S rRNA and tubulin gene sequences formed two distinct phylogenetic groups associated with the classes Dothideomycetes and Eurotiomycetes. Three fungal isolates that were closely related to the Dothideomycetes clones were obtained. We suggest the name "Acidomyces richmondensis" for these isolates. Since these ascomycete fungi were morphologically indistinguishable, rRNA-specific oligonucleotide probes were designed to target the Dothideomycetes and Eurotiomycetes via fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH). FISH analyses indicated that Eurotiomycetes are generally more abundant than Dothideomycetes in all of the seven locations studied within the Richmond Mine system. This is the first study to combine the culture-independent detection of fungi with in situ detection and a demonstration of activity in an acidic environment. The results expand our understanding of the subsurface AMD microbial community structure.