Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland.
Geobiology. 2011 May;9(3):266-79. doi: 10.1111/j.1472-4669.2011.00274.x. Epub 2011 Feb 28.
Fungi were isolated from fine granitic sediments, which were collected at 15 sampling points within a 20 m × 40 m area in front of the Damma glacier in the central Swiss Alps. From the 45 fungal isolates grown on nutrient-rich agar media at 4 °C, 24 isolates were selected for partial sequencing and identification based on the small subunit ribosomal DNA. Sequencing data revealed that the isolated fungi represented three fungal phyla and 15 species. The weathering potential of 10 of the 15 fungal species was tested with dissolution experiments using powdered granite material (<63 μm). The results showed that the zygomyceteous species Mucor hiemalis, Umbelopsis isabellina and Mortierella alpina dissolved the granite powder most efficiently due to the release of a variety of organic acids, mainly citrate, malate and oxalate. In particular, the high concentrations of Ca, Fe, Mg and Mn in the solutions clustered well with the high amounts of exuded citrate. This is the first report on fungi that were isolated from a non-vegetated glacier forefield in which the fungi's capabilities to dissolve granite minerals were examined.
真菌从细粒花岗岩沉积物中分离出来，这些沉积物是在瑞士阿尔卑斯山脉中部达马冰川前的一个 20 米×40 米的区域内的 15 个采样点采集的。从在 4°C 的营养丰富的琼脂培养基上生长的 45 个真菌分离物中，根据小亚基核糖体 DNA，选择了 24 个分离物进行部分测序和鉴定。测序数据显示，分离出的真菌代表了三个真菌门和 15 个种。用粉末状花岗岩材料(<63 μm)进行溶解实验，测试了 15 种真菌中的 10 种的风化潜力。结果表明，由于释放了多种有机酸，主要是柠檬酸、苹果酸和草酸盐，接合菌门的真菌毛霉、伞菌属和枝孢霉属最有效地溶解了花岗岩粉末。特别是，溶液中 Ca、Fe、Mg 和 Mn 的高浓度与渗出的柠檬酸的高含量聚类良好。这是首次报道从无植被的冰川前缘区分离出的真菌，并且研究了真菌溶解花岗岩矿物的能力。
