The Work Package 3 of the CaveLab Project aims at studying mycobiota in different caves of Piedmont (Italy). More in detail, the main purposes are to contribute to knowledge of the mycoflora inhabiting Alpine caves and to investigate the role of microfungi in hypogean ecosystems. The Bossea show cave was intensively studied, with the collection of 34 samples of soils and sediment in sections of the cave characterized by different level of touristic frequentation: high (HF), medium (MF) and low (LF). The samples were plated by dilution plate method, in double on two different media (MEAc and Rose Bengal); in total 164 Petri dishes were inoculated. As a whole 1726 (916 in HF, 438 in MF and 372 in LF sections) Colony Forming Units (CFUs) were counted and about 100 pure‐culture strains of fungi were isolated. The strains were identified by means of both classical mycological methods and molecular tools. The most recurrent genera are Penicillium, Aspergillus, Mucor, Trichoderma, and Bionectria. Several species are difficult to be systematically framed and require deeper investigations. Among the most remarkable species, we identified Acremonium nepalense (only in HF areas), an agent of black stains on the Paleolithic parietal art; Mortierella alpina, a species mainly exploited for arachidonic acid production (in HF, MF and LF); Penicillum ellipsoideosporum, recently recorded from China for the first time and never observed elsewhere and Aspergillus spelunceus, a very rare species observed for the first time on the bodies of dead cave crickets.
Microfungi in hypogean habitats
VIZZINI, Alfredo;VOYRON, Samuele;ISAIA, MARCO
2014-01-01
Abstract
The Work Package 3 of the CaveLab Project aims at studying mycobiota in different caves of Piedmont (Italy). More in detail, the main purposes are to contribute to knowledge of the mycoflora inhabiting Alpine caves and to investigate the role of microfungi in hypogean ecosystems. The Bossea show cave was intensively studied, with the collection of 34 samples of soils and sediment in sections of the cave characterized by different level of touristic frequentation: high (HF), medium (MF) and low (LF). The samples were plated by dilution plate method, in double on two different media (MEAc and Rose Bengal); in total 164 Petri dishes were inoculated. As a whole 1726 (916 in HF, 438 in MF and 372 in LF sections) Colony Forming Units (CFUs) were counted and about 100 pure‐culture strains of fungi were isolated. The strains were identified by means of both classical mycological methods and molecular tools. The most recurrent genera are Penicillium, Aspergillus, Mucor, Trichoderma, and Bionectria. Several species are difficult to be systematically framed and require deeper investigations. Among the most remarkable species, we identified Acremonium nepalense (only in HF areas), an agent of black stains on the Paleolithic parietal art; Mortierella alpina, a species mainly exploited for arachidonic acid production (in HF, MF and LF); Penicillum ellipsoideosporum, recently recorded from China for the first time and never observed elsewhere and Aspergillus spelunceus, a very rare species observed for the first time on the bodies of dead cave crickets.
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