Fungi of the Black Sea basin: Directions and perspectives of research

Abstract

Totally 71 literature source focused on the study of the Black Sea fungi (micromycetes) for the period from 1867 to 2018 was analyzed. In the 1860s and 1930s Zostera marina sea grass epidemics were recorded caused by fungi-like organisms of the genus Labyrinthula. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, several cases of seagrass local mycosis were also identified. In the 1960s–2000s invertebrate epizootics caused by fungi were recorded: Hyphochytrium peniliae species parasitized on the Cladocera Penilia avirostris and caused its mass death; fungus Leptolegnia pontica infected eggs of Cirripedia Balanus improvisus and significantly reduced the population fecundity; the invasion of the fungus Ostracoblabe implexa led to the destruction of the Ostrea edulis oyster populations. Currently, single cases of the lesions on the cultivated oyster Crassostrea gigas (its spat is brought from other countries) by O. edulis are noted. Fungi-epibionts were isolated from the shells of C. gigas and Mytilus galloprovincialis. Microsporidia Steinhausia mytilovum was identified in mature oocytes of M. galloprovincialis. On the surface of fish and in their internal organs, filamentous fungi and intracellular parasites (microsporidia) were found. Fungi were revealed on the surface of bottlenose dolphins. The study of pelagial, benthal, cellulose-containing substrates’, foams’, periphyton, micro- and macroalgae, seagrasses mycobiota was carried out. Currently, 435 species of fungi were found in the Black Sea basin. They belong to 212 genera, 84 families, 50 orders, 19 classes, and 3 kingdoms. Totally 372 species were recorded in the marine environment, 196 were found in the freshwaters, and 31 species was recorded in the hypersaline waters. In the water column, 230 species of fungi were identified (in the hydrogen sulfide zone – 21); in the bottom sediments – 202 (in the hydrogen sulfide zone – 31); 70 species were recorded on wood; 30 – in periphyton on glasses and artificial stony supralittoral (berths, traverses); 46 – in marine foam; 50 – on/in molluscs; 18 – on the skin of dolphins; 116 – on macroalgae; 2 – on microalgae; 38 – on seagrasses; 69 – on/in fish; 14 – on/in crustaceans. The number of species found in the coastal waters of different regions is: Georgia – 8; Gelendzhik (Russia) – 56; Crimean Peninsula – 276; the north-western part of the Black Sea – 177; Romania – 112; Bulgaria – 44; Turkey – 9; Danube River – 238; Snake Island – 30. This review reflects individual studies on the fungi ability to utilize cellulose, petroleum and its products, phenol, and sulfur and to cause corrosion of metals. The first results in the study of antimicrobial activity of facultative and obligatory marine fungi of the Black Sea, as well as the ability of fungi to luminescence, are considered. This article lists directions of research in marine mycology that are perspective for the further study.