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Abstract
Facultative marine filamentous fungi have recently emerged as a functional component in coastal marine systems. However, little is known about their ecological role and functions in biogeochemical cycles. Penicillium decumbens, S. strictum, and F. fujikuroi were isolated from the coastal upwelling zone off south-central Chile. Their carbon profiles were characterized using Biolog FF MicroPlates. These species used a wide range of carbon sources, mainly carbohydrates, but also amino acids, suggesting the use of metabolic routes that include glycolysis/gluconeogenesis. Substrate richness revealed a great capacity for the utilization of nutritional sources, reflected by the following Shannon Indices of utilization of specific substrates: 4.02 for S. strictum, 4.01 for P. decumbes, and 3.91 for F. fujikuroi, which reveals a high physiological capacity for oxidizing different substrates. Significant differences were found between 18 substrates utilized by all three species. Results suggest that filamentous fungi should be considered an integral part of the marine microbial community and included in biogeochemical cycling models of upwelling ecosystems.
Acknowledgments
This study was financed by the Interdisciplinary Center for Aquaculture Research (INCAR; FONDAP Project No. 15110027, National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research; CONICYT, Chile). We wish to thank Dr Silvio Pantoja and Dr Marcelo Gutiérrez (Laboratory of Marine Organic Geochemistry of the University of Concepción) for their support in collecting, culturing, and maintaining the fungal strains used. The authors would like to thank Dr Jeffrey Cary and two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments and suggestions.