title: Molecular diversity and distribution of marine fungi across 130 European environmental samples.
abstract: Environmental DNA and culture-based analyses have suggested that fungi are present in low diversity and in low abundance in many marine environments, especially in the upper water column. Here, we use a dual approach involving high-throughput diversity tag sequencing from both DNA and RNA templates and fluorescent cell counts to evaluate the diversity and relative abundance of fungi across marine samples taken from six European near-shore sites. We removed very rare fungal operational taxonomic units (OTUs) selecting only OTUs recovered from multiple samples for a detailed analysis. This approach identified a set of 71 fungal 'OTU clusters' that account for 66% of all the sequences assigned to the Fungi. Phylogenetic analyses demonstrated that this diversity includes a significant number of chytrid-like lineages that had not been previously described, indicating that the marine environment encompasses a number of zoosporic fungi that are new to taxonomic inventories. Using the sequence datasets, we identified cases where fungal OTUs were sampled across multiple geographical sites and between different sampling depths. This was especially clear in one relatively abundant and diverse phylogroup tentatively named Novel Chytrid-Like-Clade 1 (NCLC1). For comparison, a subset of the water column samples was also investigated using fluorescent microscopy to examine the abundance of eukaryotes with chitin cell walls. Comparisons of relative abundance of RNA-derived fungal tag sequences and chitin cell-wall counts demonstrate that fungi constitute a low fraction of the eukaryotic community in these water column samples. Taken together, these results demonstrate the phylogenetic position and environmental distribution of 71 lineages, improving our understanding of the diversity and abundance of fungi in marine environments.
authors.affiliation: Biosciences, University of Exeter, Geoffrey Pope Building, Exeter EX4 4QD, UK Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, CIFAR Program in Integrated Microbial Biodiversity, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5G 1Z8 t.a.richards@exeter.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Thomas A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Richards
authors.affiliation: Biosciences, University of Exeter, Geoffrey Pope Building, Exeter EX4 4QD, UK.
authors.forename: Guy
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Leonard
authors.affiliation: CNRS, UMR 7144, EPEP-Évolution des Protistes et des Écosystèmes Pélagiques, Station Biologique de Roscoff, Roscoff 29680, France Department of Ecology, University of Kaiserslautern, 67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany.
authors.forename: Frédéric
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mahé
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, 3529-6270 University Boulevard, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Z4 Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Del Campo
authors.affiliation: CNRS, UMR 7144, EPEP-Évolution des Protistes et des Écosystèmes Pélagiques, Station Biologique de Roscoff, Roscoff 29680, France.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Romac
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK.
authors.forename: Meredith D M
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
authors.forename: Finlay
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Maguire
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology, University of Kaiserslautern, 67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany.
authors.forename: Micah
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dunthorn
authors.affiliation: CNRS, UMR 7144, EPEP-Évolution des Protistes et des Écosystèmes Pélagiques, Station Biologique de Roscoff, Roscoff 29680, France.
authors.forename: Colomban
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: De Vargas
authors.affiliation: Department of Marine Biology and Oceanography, Institut de Ciències del Mar (CSIC), Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
authors.forename: Ramon
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Massana
authors.affiliation: Biosciences, University of Exeter, Geoffrey Pope Building, Exeter EX4 4QD, UK.
authors.forename: Aurélie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chambouvet
mesh_terms: D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000235:genetics; D005060:Europe; D005658:Fungi / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D014644:Genetic Variation; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000382:microbiology*; D064307:Microbiota; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012331:RNA, Fungal / Q000235:genetics; D012623:Seawater / Q000382:microbiology*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D004271:DNA, Fungal; D012331:RNA, Fungal
keywords: 454 pyrosequencing; Dikarya; chytrids; sediment communities