Phylogenetic diversity and bioactivity of culturable deepsea-derived fungi from Okinawa Trough

Deep-sea sediments are now recognized as a home for rich and largely microbial community.Recently,it has been believed in an increasing number of studies that bacteria could be abundant in deepsea sediments of many types;however,fungi in deep-sea sediments remain relatively unknown.The phylogenetic diversity and bioactivity of culturable deep-sea-derived fungi from Okinawa Trough sediments were investigated in traditional method combined with fungal identification of molecular biology in this study.A total of 76 isolates belonged to 15 fungal taxa were recovered in a harsh condition of low nutrient and low temperature,indicating that the fungal communities in deep-sea sediments from Okinawa Trough were relatively abundant and diversified.Aspergillus,Cladosporium,and Penicillium were the dominant fungal genera,while Mycosphaerella,Purpureocillium,and Schizophyllum were relatively rare in the deep-sea sediments from Okinawa Trough.Among the six genera recovered,Mycosphaerella was firstly recovered from deep-sea sediments in this study.Moreover,about 75%of the extracts from the 15 fungal representative isolates displayed distinct bioactivity against at least one indicator bacterium or marine macrofouler,emphasizing the potentials of these deep-sea-derived fungi from Okinawa Trough as producers of bioactive metabolites.Notably,isolates Cladosporium oxysporum SCSIO z001 and Penicillium citrinum SCSIO z049 displayed a wide spectrum of bioactivities,isolates Cladosporium cladosporioides SCSIO z015,Cladosporium sphaerospermum SCSIO z030,and Penicillium verruculosum SCSIO z007 exhibited a strong anti-bacterial-growth activity,and isolate Penicillium chrysogenum SCSIO z062 displayed a strong anti-larval-settlement activity.These results suggest that these isolates deserved further study as potential sources of novel bioactive metabolites.