Fungal diversity and community structure from coastal and barrier island beaches in the United States Gulf of Mexico.

ABSTRACT: Fungi are an important and understudied component of coastal biomes including sand beaches. Basic biogeographic diversity data are lacking for marine fungi in most parts of the world, despite their important role in decomposition. We examined intertidal fungal communities at several United States (US) Gulf of Mexico sand beach sites using morphology and ITS rDNA terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analyses. Fungal biogeographical patterns from sand beach detritus (wood, emergent plant [mangrove/ saltmarsh], or marine [algae, seagrass]) from Florida, Mississippi, and Texas were investigated using diversity indices and multivariate analyses. Fungal diversity increased with decreasing latitude at our study sites. Substrate type strongly influenced fungal community struc

SUBMITTER: Walker AK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7886894 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature