Title: Astonishing Fungal Diversity in Deep‐Sea Hydrothermal Ecosystems: An Untapped Resource of Biotechnological Potential?
Abstract: Marine fungi have long been considered as exotic microorganisms that fascinate only a very small proportion of scientists. Ecologically important relationships between marine fungi from open oceans or coastal waters and other organisms have been clearly demonstrated. However, the diversity, ecological role(s) and biotechnological potential of fungal communities from deep-sea marine extreme environments such as hydrothermal vents are far from being resolved. Based on data from recent surveys, hydrothermal vents have emerged as oases of life for fungi, with unexpected communities revealed by culture-independent and culture-based methods, in addition to newly described species that can adapt specifically to deep-sea conditions. As the natural product chemolibraries from marine fungi continue to expand rapidly, it can be hypothesized that an extensive exploration of fungi from extreme environments – and in particular from deep-sea hydrothermal vents – will cause the current catalog of natural products to be dramatically enriched with novel active biomolecules.
Publication Year: 2014
Publication Date: 2014-03-07
Language: en
Type: other
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 11
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