Diversity of Marine-DerivedAspergillusfrom Tidal Mudflats and Sea Sand in Korea.
Aspergillus(Trichocomaceae, Eurotiales, and Ascomycota) is a genus of well-defined asexual spore-forming fungi that produce valuable compounds such as secondary metabolites and enzymes; however, some species are also responsible for diseases in plants and animals, including humans. To date, 26Aspergillusspecies have been reported in Korea, with most species located in terrestrial environments. In our study,Aspergillusspecies were isolated from mudflats and sea sand along the western and southern coasts of Korea. A total of 84 strains were isolated and identified as 17Aspergillusspecies in 11 sections on the basis of both morphological characteristics and sequence analysis of the calmodulin gene (CaM) locus. Commonly isolated species wereA. fumigatus(26 strains),A. sydowii(14 strains), andA. terreus(10 strains). The diversity ofAspergillusspecies isolated from mudflats (13 species) was higher than the diversity of those from sea sand (five species). Four identified species-A. caesiellus,A. montenegroi,A. rhizopodus, andA. tabacinus-are in the first records in Korea. Here, we provide detailed descriptions of the morphological characteristics of these four species.
School of Biological Sciences and Institute of Microbiology, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea.
Seobihn
S
Lee
School of Biological Sciences and Institute of Microbiology, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea.
Myung Soo
MS
Park
School of Biological Sciences and Institute of Microbiology, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea.
Young Woon
YW
Lim
Aspergillus; CaM; Marine environment; Morphology; Phylogeny