Arenicolous marine fungi of sandy beaches of Taiwan

Ka-Lai Pang; I-An Chen; Michael Wai-Lun Chiang; Ami Shaumi; Sung-Yuan Hsieh; Sheng-Yu Guo

doi:10.1515/bot-2022-0057

Article

Arenicolous marine fungi of sandy beaches of Taiwan

Ka-Lai Pang

Ka-Lai Pang obtained his BSc and PhD degrees from the City University of Hong Kong in 1998 and 2001, respectively. Prof. Pang studies the biology of marine fungi and fungus-like organisms and endophytic fungi associated with mangrove plants and macroalgae.
, I-An Chen

I-An Chen obtained his MSc degree on diversity of arenicolous marine fungi at National Taiwan Ocean University, Taiwan.
, Michael Wai-Lun Chiang

Michael Wai-Lun Chiang obtained his MPhil degree from the City University of Hong Kong in 2002 and is currently a technical officer in the Department of Chemistry of the same university. His technical expertise lies in biological electron microscopy and ecotoxicology.
, Ami Shaumi

Ami Shaumi obtained her MSc degree on morphology and phylogeny of freshwater fungi at National Taiwan Ocean University, Taiwan. She is currently a PhD student studying the diversity of marine fungi associated with marine crustaceans under the supervision of Prof. Ka-Lai Pang.
, Sung-Yuan Hsieh and Sheng-Yu Guo

Sheng-Yu Guo obtained her MSc at National Taiwan Ocean University studying phylogeny of marine fungi under the supervision of Prof. Ka-Lai Pang. She is now a PhD student studying the diversity of aquatic Chytridiomycota and allied taxa in Taiwan.

Published/Copyright: February 14, 2023

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From the journal Botanica Marina Volume 66 Issue 2

Abstract

This study investigated the morphological diversity of arenicolous marine fungi (only those forming fruiting bodies on sand grains) at 11 sandy beaches in Taiwan. The species of Corollospora were identified by ascospore morphology and confirmed through a phylogenetic analysis of the 28S rDNA with other published sequences. The phylogenetic analysis revealed four previously unknown clades of Corollospora spp. related to C. portsaidica, while differences in ascospore morphology of the isolates in these four clades were observed. A total of 13 species of arenicolous marine fungi was identified from the 11 sandy beaches, including two Arenariomyces spp., nine Corollospora spp. (including four unknown Corollospora clades), Kohlmeyeriella crassa and Carbosphaerella cf sp. Taan Beach had the highest species richness (eight species), followed by Yongzhen Sea Park and Pisirian (five species each). The Shannon’s diversity index revealed the highest diversity at Taan Beach (1.51) over Pisirian (1.44), but the diversity was more even at the latter site (Pielou’s evenness index = 0.9) compared with the former (0.73). Non-metric multidimensional scaling suggests that there was generally a divide in the fungal community composition between the east and the west coasts of Taiwan.

Keywords: Ascomycota; decomposer; fungal ecology; Halosphaeriaceae; Sordariomycetes

Corresponding author: Ka-Lai Pang, Institute of Marine Biology and Center of Excellence for the Oceans, National Taiwan Ocean University, 2 Pei-Ning Road, Keelung 202301, Taiwan, E-mail: klpang@ntou.edu.tw

Funding source: Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan

Award Identifier / Grant number: MOST105-2621-B-019-002-

About the authors

Ka-Lai Pang

Ka-Lai Pang obtained his BSc and PhD degrees from the City University of Hong Kong in 1998 and 2001, respectively. Prof. Pang studies the biology of marine fungi and fungus-like organisms and endophytic fungi associated with mangrove plants and macroalgae.

I-An Chen

I-An Chen obtained his MSc degree on diversity of arenicolous marine fungi at National Taiwan Ocean University, Taiwan.

Michael Wai-Lun Chiang

Michael Wai-Lun Chiang obtained his MPhil degree from the City University of Hong Kong in 2002 and is currently a technical officer in the Department of Chemistry of the same university. His technical expertise lies in biological electron microscopy and ecotoxicology.

Ami Shaumi

Ami Shaumi obtained her MSc degree on morphology and phylogeny of freshwater fungi at National Taiwan Ocean University, Taiwan. She is currently a PhD student studying the diversity of marine fungi associated with marine crustaceans under the supervision of Prof. Ka-Lai Pang.

Sheng-Yu Guo

Sheng-Yu Guo obtained her MSc at National Taiwan Ocean University studying phylogeny of marine fungi under the supervision of Prof. Ka-Lai Pang. She is now a PhD student studying the diversity of aquatic Chytridiomycota and allied taxa in Taiwan.

Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.
Research funding: Ka-Lai Pang acknowledges the financial support from the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan (MOST105-2621-B-019-002-).
Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest regarding this article.

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Supplementary Material

This article contains supplementary material (https://doi.org/10.1515/bot-2022-0057).

Received: 2022-09-28

Accepted: 2023-01-12

Published Online: 2023-02-14

Published in Print: 2023-04-25

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Keywords for this article

Ascomycota; decomposer; fungal ecology; Halosphaeriaceae; Sordariomycetes