title: A High-Level Fungal Diversity in the Intertidal Sediment of Chinese Seas Presents the Spatial Variation of Community Composition.
abstract: The intertidal region is one of the most dynamic environments in the biosphere, which potentially supports vast biodiversity. Fungi have been found to play important roles in marine ecosystems, e.g., as parasites or symbionts of plants and animals, and as decomposers of organic materials. The fungal diversity in intertidal region, however, remains poorly understood. In this study, sediment samples from various intertidal habitats of Chinese seas were collected and investigated for determination of fungal community and spatial distribution. Through ribosomal RNA internal transcribed spacer-2 (ITS2) metabarcoding, a high-level fungal diversity was revealed, as represented by 6,013 OTUs that spanned six phyla, 23 classes, 84 orders and 526 genera. The presence of typical decomposers (e.g.,Corollosporain Ascomycota andLepiotain Basidiomycota) and pathogens (e.g.,Olpidiumin Chytriomycota,Actinomucorin Zygomycota and unidentified Rozellomycota spp.), and even mycorrhizal fungi (e.g.,Glomusin Glomeromycota) indicated a complicated origin of intertidal fungi. Interestingly, a small proportion of sequences were classified to obligate marine fungi (e.g.,Corollospora, Lignincola, Remispora, Sigmoidea). Our data also showed that the East China Sea significantly differed from other regions in terms of species richness and community composition, indicating a profound effect of the huge discharge of the Yangtze River. No significant difference in fungal communities was detected, however, among habitat types (i.e., aquaculture, dock, plant, river mouth and tourism). These observations raise further questions on adaptation of these members to environments and the ecological functions they probably perform.
authors.affiliation: College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of China Qingdao, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of ChinaQingdao, China; State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), BeijingChina.
authors.forename: Mengmeng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of China Qingdao, China.
authors.forename: Xiaomeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Bian
authors.affiliation: College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of China Qingdao, China.
authors.forename: Jiajia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cai
keywords: distribution pattern; fungal community; intertidal region; metabarcoding; microbiome