Abstract
The diversity and ecological contribution of the fungus kingdom in the marine environment remain under-studied. A recent survey in the Atlantic (Woods Hole, MA, USA) brought to light the diversity and unique biological features of marine fungi. The study revealed that black yeast species undergo an unconventional cell division cycle, which has not been documented in conventional model yeast species such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae (budding yeast) and Schizosaccharomyces pombe (fission yeast). The prevalence of this unusual property is unknown. Inspired by the findings in Woods Hole, I collected and identified >50 marine fungi species across 40 genera from the ocean surface, sediment, and macroalgal surface in the Pacific (Sugashima, Toba, Japan). The Sugashima collection largely did not overlap with the Woods Hole collection and included several unidentifiable species, further illustrating the diversity of marine fungi. Three black yeast species were isolated, two of which were commonly found in Woods Hole (Aureobasidium pullulans, Hortaea werneckii). Surprisingly, I observed that their cell division mode was dependent on cell density, and the previously reported unconventional division mode was reproduced only at a certain cell density. For all three black yeast species, cells underwent filamentous growth with septations at low cell density and immediately formed buds at high cell density. At intermediate cell density, two black yeasts showed rod cells undergoing septation at the cell equator, in a manner similar to S. pombe. In contrast, all eight budding yeast species showed a consistent division pattern regardless of cell density. In five budding yeast species, the mother cell formed a single bud at a time at an apparently random site, similar to S. cerevisiae. The other three budding yeast species possessed a fixed budding site. This study illustrates the plastic nature of the growth/division mode of marine-derived black yeast.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
Footnotes
Email: goshima{at}bio.nagoya-u.ac.jp; Phone: +81 599-34-2216