2020/11/19 by Lluvia Vargas‐Gastélum, Meritxell Riquelme · 38 citations
Environmental Science · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology #Plant Pathogens and Fungal Diseases #Protist diversity and phylogeny #Mycobiota #Deep sea #Abiotic component #Hydrostatic pressure #Biology #Ecology #Oceanography #Geology #Fishery
paper · pdf · doi:10.3390/life10110292
published in Life 10(11), 292 (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)
openalex publication_date 2020/11/19 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
The deep sea (>1000 m below sea level) represents one of the most extreme environments of the ocean. Despite exhibiting harsh abiotic conditions such as low temperatures, high hydrostatic pressure, high salinity concentrations, a low input of organic matter, and absence of light, the deep sea encompasses a great fungal diversity. For decades, most knowledge on the fungal diversity of the deep sea was obtained through culture-dependent techniques. More recently, with the latest advances of high-throughput next generation sequencing platforms, there has been a rapid increment in the number of studies using culture-independent techniques. This review brings into the spotlight the progress of the techniques used to assess the diversity and ecological role of the deep-sea mycobiota and provides an overview on how the omics technologies have contributed to gaining knowledge about fungi and their activity in poorly explored marine environments. Finally, current challenges and suggested coordinated efforts to overcome them are discussed.