Taxonomy of rock-inhabiting fungi from James Ross Island, Antarctica

A total of 51 strains of rock-inhabiting fungi, which were isolated from rock fragments in the deglaciated area of James Ross Island, Antarctica, were studied and compared by sequencing the ITS rDNA region. Analysed strains were classified into two classes of the phylum Ascomycota. Specifically, 41 strains were classified within the families Teratosphaeriaceae (20) and Extremaceae (21), belonging to the order Mycosphaerellales of the class Dothideomycetes. The remaining Dothideomycetes strains were found to be related to species from the orders Cladosporiales and Dothideales. Additionally, only four strains were related to the order Chaetothyriales, which belongs to the class Eurotiomycetes. On the whole, 29 analysed strains were affiliated with four genera of typical rock-inhabiting fungi, namely Oleoguttula, Rachicladosporium, Elasticomyces and Vermiconidia. The genus Vermiconidia was represented by the highest number of isolates among the studied strains, suggesting that it represents a common component of the fungal community of the investigated area. Out of the 51 analysed strains, only seven were successfully identified as the species Rachicladosporium antarcticum, Oleoguttula mirabilis, and Elasticomyces elasticus. Further investigation and characterization of the majority of analysed strains are necessary to determine their taxonomic position and describe potentially new taxa.