Emma Wilson
Marine fungi are an understudied area of mycology, with most mycologists and the general public knowing very little about them. They are not visible to the naked eye, unlike their terrestrial counterparts, and are therefore difficult to study. However, they play an important role in the ecosystem, particularly in decomposing wood and other organic matter. They can be found in a variety of marine environments, from coral reefs to the Arctic sea ice. Some marine fungi have even been found to have moved from land to sea environments. Certain species of marine fungi, such as microsporidia, are parasitic and can infect a wide range of animals, including fish and humans. While the full extent of their abilities is not yet known, marine fungi have been found to possess unique adaptations and may even have applications in biotechnology and medicine.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Movement | Marine mushrooms can move. Chytridiomycota, or chytrids, are some of the most prevalent species surveyed in the oceans so far. They have a flagellum, which is like a small tail that allows them to swim and move about the waters. |
| Visibility | Marine fungi are not visible to the naked eye like terrestrial mushrooms. |
| Study | Marine fungi have been understudied. Studying them requires time-intensive culturing methods. |
| Decomposition | Marine fungi are important decomposers in the marine realm, particularly because of their ability to decay wood. |
| Pollution | Marine fungi can break down an array of compounds in the surrounding environment, including hydrocarbons (the chief component of petroleum and natural gas). |
| Parasitism | Marine fungi called microsporidia live inside the cells of a host organism and cannot reproduce without it. They infect nearly every major animal group on land and at sea, including fish, lobsters, crabs, insects, and even people. |
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What You'll Learn
Marine fungi are understudied and hard to identify
Marine fungi are species of fungi that live in marine or estuarine environments. They are not a taxonomic group, but rather a collection of species that share a common habitat. Obligate marine fungi grow exclusively in the marine habitat, while facultative marine fungi can also grow in terrestrial or freshwater environments.
There are several reasons why marine fungi are understudied and difficult to identify. Firstly, they do not biomineralise, so they do not readily enter the fossil record. This makes it challenging to identify them, as fungal fossils are often indistinguishable from those of other microbes. The early fossil record of fungi is meager, and they are most easily identified when they resemble extant fungi.
Another challenge in studying marine fungi is the difficulty in targeting their DNA and growing cultures. Marine fungi have unique environmental pressures and nutrients, which makes them an excellent source of bioactive metabolites. However, they remain understudied, and their number is significantly lower compared to bacterial counterparts. Furthermore, marine fungi are influenced by factors such as water temperature, salinity, water movement, and pollution, which can make them harder to locate and study.
Despite their potential importance, less than 1% of all marine fungal species have been described, according to some sources. With further research and exploration, it is likely that many new marine fungal species will be discovered and their potential benefits to biotechnology, medicine, and industry will be uncovered.
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Some marine fungi can swim and move
Marine fungi are not as well-known as their terrestrial counterparts, but they exist and play important roles in marine ecosystems. They are found in diverse environments, from coral reefs to marine sediments at the bottom of the ocean, driftwood, seagrasses, and even in the ice of the Arctic sea.
While most people picture mushrooms when they think of fungi, marine fungi are not visible to the naked eye like the mushrooms we see on land. Instead, they are microscopic, and studying them has traditionally been challenging and time-consuming. However, advancements in DNA sequencing techniques have led to the discovery of more marine fungal species.
Some marine fungi have unique adaptations that allow them to survive in the ocean. They can withstand high salinity, intense pressures of the deep sea, and environments with little to no dissolved oxygen. These fungi have evolved to have more salt efflux pumps in their cell membranes and produce compounds called osmolytes, enabling them to function in saltwater.
Among the various species of marine fungi, certain ones stand out for their ability to swim and move. Chytridiomycota, commonly known as chytrids, are prevalent in the oceans. They possess a flagellum, a small tail-like structure, that enables them to swim and move about in the water. This adaptation allows them to thrive in their aquatic environments.
In addition to Chytridiomycota, another type of marine fungus capable of movement is mushroom coral or corallimorphs. Unlike other corals, mushroom corals can move slowly and usually do so at night when the lights in the aquarium are off. They use different methods for movement, including inflating and deflating their tissues, detaching from their base and using water flow, or crawling. They move to find more favorable locations within their environment.
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Marine fungi have unique adaptations to salinity and pressure
Marine fungi are a diverse group of microorganisms that play an important role in nutrient cycling in marine environments. They can be saprobic (living on dead organic matter) or parasitic on animals, algae, plants, or dead wood. Marine fungi have unique adaptations that allow them to thrive in various marine habitats, including different levels of salinity and pressure.
The presence of marine fungi in a particular location depends on several factors, including water temperature, salinity, water movement, available substrates for colonization, competition from other species, pollution levels, and oxygen content. Marine fungi have adapted to these varying conditions, demonstrating their remarkable versatility.
For example, in estuaries and creeks with lower salinity, certain fungi require fewer adaptations to thrive. Some marine fungi have even ventured into the sea from terrestrial habitats, burrowing into sand grains or living inside stony corals. These fungi may become pathogenic if the coral is stressed by rising sea temperatures.
Deep-subsurface marine fungi also exhibit unique adaptations to high hydrostatic and lithostatic pressures. For instance, the well-known yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae modifies its membrane composition to withstand higher hydrostatic pressure. Additionally, some sediment-dwelling marine fungi, such as Fusarium oxysporum and Fusarium solani, play a role in biogeochemical processes by fixing nitrogen and processing organic matter.
The growth of marine fungi as hyphae or single cells in aquatic environments is another adaptation for efficient nutrient extraction. Hyphae, in particular, are well-adapted for growth on solid surfaces and can exert significant mechanical forces to invade substrates and tissues. These adaptations allow marine fungi to colonize a wide range of substrates, including sponges, corals, mangroves, seagrasses, and algae.
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Marine fungi can be found on coral reefs, in sediments, and on driftwood
Marine fungi are species of fungi that live in marine or estuarine environments. They are not a taxonomic group but rather share a common habitat. Marine fungi can be found on coral reefs, in sediments, and on driftwood.
Obligate marine fungi grow exclusively in marine habitats while wholly or sporadically submerged in seawater. Facultative marine fungi, on the other hand, typically occupy terrestrial or freshwater habitats but are capable of living and reproducing in marine habitats. There are about 2,149 known species of marine fungi within eleven phyla and 856 genera, although only about 64 species have been fully genetically sequenced.
Marine fungi play a crucial role in the decomposition of organic matter, including carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids. They are also involved in biogeochemical processes, such as the breakdown of oil spills and the cycling of manganese and arsenic. Fungi have been observed in marine sediments at various depths, with the highest diversity found between 0 and 25 meters below the seafloor. Fusarium oxysporum and Rhodotorula mucilaginosa are the most common fungi in this depth range.
Fungi have also been studied on driftwood along the shores of the Baltic Sea, revealing a diverse range of fungal species. Marine fungi have been found to contribute to the decomposition of intertidal organic substrata, particularly in cold-water environments like Atlantic Canada. This process is essential for maintaining the ecological balance in these habitats.
Additionally, the health of coral reefs is impacted by marine fungi. As oceans become more acidic and temperatures rise, coral reefs become more susceptible to fungal diseases. This is further exacerbated by nutrient enrichment caused by human activities such as fertilizer runoff and the dumping of waste.
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Marine fungi have potential applications in biotechnology, medicine, and industry
Marine fungi have been underexplored and underutilized in comparison to their terrestrial counterparts. However, they have immense potential for applications in biotechnology, medicine, and industry.
Marine fungi produce secondary metabolites that can be used in biotechnological, medical, and industrial applications. They have played a significant role in basic biotechnological processes such as baking, brewing, and creating dairy products. They are also used as cell factories for the production of commercially important products like alcohols, enzymes, and organic acids.
The unique conditions in marine environments, such as salinity, pressure, temperature, and light, contribute to significant differences in the enzymes produced by marine fungi when compared to terrestrial fungi. These enzymes have a wide range of applications, including in the technical, food and beverage, animal feed, environmental, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries.
Marine fungi also have the metabolic capacity to degrade environmental organic matter, particularly plant and algae material, which can be used in industries and bioremediation. For example, the acidophilic tannase produced by marine Aspergillus awamori has industrial applications in the synthesis of antioxidant propyl gallate, tea cream solubilization, and the simultaneous production of tannase and gallic acid.
The marine fungal natural products (MaFNaP) Consortium was founded in 2014 to fuel systematic research on marine fungi and their metabolites. The consortium aims to attract scientists working on terrestrial fungi to collaborate on addressing common challenges and advancing marine fungal biodiscovery and biotechnology research.
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Frequently asked questions
Marine mushrooms do move. Chytridiomycota, or chytrids, are some of the most prevalent species of marine mushrooms and they have a flagellum, which is like a small tail that allows them to swim and move about the waters.
Marine mushrooms include species that burrow into sand grains and live in the pores. Some marine mushrooms live inside stony corals and may become pathogenic if the coral is stressed by rising sea temperatures. Some other examples of marine mushrooms are Lichens, which are mutualistic associations between fungi and an alga or a cyanobacterium.
Marine Mycology is the study of fungi that inhabit our oceans. Marine mycology involves finding out if seagrasses are forming "novel associations with marine fungi".
Marine mushrooms have unique adaptations to salinity and intense pressures found in the deep ocean. They also have the ability to break down recalcitrant polymers, which are compounds that are very difficult to break down by most organisms.
Marine mushrooms are not visible to the naked eye like regular mushrooms are. They are also much smaller than regular mushrooms.
