ISOLATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF FILAMENTOUS FUNGI FROM ISLAND LIVINGSTON, ANTARCTICA

Over the last decades, the Antarctic regions have been investigated mainly for the presence and exploitation of psychrophilic bacteria and archea, occasionally for algae and more rarely for fungi. The present study reports results concerning the isolation and identification of filamentous fungi from samples of soil taken from Livingston Island, South Shetland Archipelago, West Antarctica. Using conventional media and techniques, all collection sites yielded populations of filamentous fungi, belonging to the phylum Ascomycota (7 genera), Deuteromycota (2), Zygomycota (2) and Basidiomycota (1). Mucor, Cladosporium, Alternaria, Aspergillus and Penicillium were predominant genera. Lecanicillium, Botrytis, Geomyces, Monodictys and Rhizopus were the most frequently isolated genera. Most of the fungal isolates proved to be cold-tolerant