Fungi in the marine environment: Open questions and unsolved problems

Authors

Anthony Amend, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Gaetan Burgaud, Laboratoire Universitaire de Biodiversité et d'Ecologie Microbienne (Lubem)
Michael Cunliffe, Marine Biological Association
Virginia P. Edgcomb, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Cassandra L. Ettinger, University of California, Davis
M. H. Gutiérrez, Universidad de Concepcion
Joseph Heitman, Duke University Medical Center
Erik F.Y. Hom, University of Mississippi
Giuseppe Ianiri, Duke University Medical Center
Adam C. Jones, Gordon E. and Betty I. Moore Foundation
Maiko Kagami, Yokohama National University
Kathryn T. Picard, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
C. Alisha Quandt, University of Colorado Boulder
Seshagiri Raghukumar, National Institute of Oceanography India
Mertixell Riquelme, Centro de Investigacion Cientifica y de Educacion Superior de Ensenada
Jason Stajich, University of California, Riverside
José Vargas-Muñiz, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Allison K. Walker, Acadia University
Oded Yarden, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Amy S. Gladfelter, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-1-2019

Abstract

© 2019 Amend et al. Terrestrial fungi play critical roles in nutrient cycling and food webs and can shape macroorganism communities as parasites and mutualists. Although estimates for the number of fungal species on the planet range from 1.5 to over 5 million, likely fewer than 10% of fungi have been identified so far. To date, a relatively small percentage of described species are associated with marine environments, with ~1,100 species retrieved exclusively from the marine environment. Nevertheless, fungi have been found in nearly every marine habitat explored, from the surface of the ocean to kilometers below ocean sediments. Fungi are hypothesized to contribute to phytoplankton population cycles and the biological carbon pump and are active in the chemistry of marine sediments. Many fungi have been identified as commensals or pathogens of marine animals (e.g., corals and sponges), plants, and algae. Despite their varied roles, remarkably little is known about the diversity of this major branch of eukaryotic life in marine ecosystems or their ecological functions. This perspective emerges from a Marine Fungi Workshop held in May 2018 at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA. We present the state of knowledge as well as the multitude of open questions regarding the diversity and function of fungi in the marine biosphere and geochemical cycles.

Relational Format

journal article

Recommended Citation

Amend, A., Burgaud, G., Cunliffe, M., Edgcomb, V. P., Ettinger, C. L., Gutiérrez, M. H., Heitman, J., Hom, E. F. Y., Ianiri, G., Jones, A. C., Kagami, M., Picard, K. T., Quandt, C. A., Raghukumar, S., Riquelme, M., Stajich, J., Vargas-Muñiz, J., Walker, A. K., Yarden, O., & Gladfelter, A. S. (2019). Fungi in the Marine Environment: Open Questions and Unsolved Problems. MBio, 10(2), e01189-18, /mbio/10/2/mBio.01189-18.atom. https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.01189-18

DOI

10.1128/mBio.01189-18

Accessibility Status

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