title: Partitioning of fungal assemblages across different marine habitats.
abstract: Fungi are a highly diverse group of microbes that fundamentally influence the biogeochemistry of the biosphere, but we currently know little about the diversity and distribution of fungi in aquatic habitats. Here we describe shifts in marine fungal community composition across different marine habitats, using targeted pyrosequencing of the fungal Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) region. Our results demonstrate strong partitioning of fungal community composition between estuarine, coastal and oceanic samples, with each habitat hosting discrete communities that are controlled by patterns in salinity, temperature, oxygen and nutrients. Whereas estuarine habitats comprised a significant proportion of fungal groups often found in terrestrial habitats, the open ocean sites were dominated by previously unidentified groups. The patterns observed here indicate that fungi are potentially a significant, although largely overlooked, feature of the ocean's microbiota, but greater efforts to characterize marine species are required before the full ecological and biogeochemical importance of marine fungi can be ascertained.
authors.affiliation: Plant Functional Biology and Climate Change Cluster, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.|Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Thomas Charles
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Jeffries
authors.affiliation: Plant Functional Biology and Climate Change Cluster, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Nathalie J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Curlevski
authors.affiliation: School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Mark Vincent
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: University of Sydney Institute of Marine Science, School of Geosciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.|Sydney Institute of Marine Science, Mosman, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Daniel P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Harrison
authors.affiliation: Plant Functional Biology and Climate Change Cluster, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Martina A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Doblin
authors.affiliation: Plant Functional Biology and Climate Change Cluster, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Katherina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Petrou
authors.affiliation: Plant Functional Biology and Climate Change Cluster, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Ralph
authors.affiliation: Plant Functional Biology and Climate Change Cluster, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Justin R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Seymour
mesh_terms: D059001:Aquatic Organisms / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D058448:Biota; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D017753:Ecosystem; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005658:Fungi / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D004271:DNA, Fungal; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer