[Fungal diversity and enzyme activities in marine sediments in the South China sea].

OBJECTIVE

We studied species diversity and enzyme activities of fungi from 11 marine sediment samples in the South China Sea.

METHODS

Salt-tolerant fungi were isolated by a dilution-plate method, and their diversity was studied based on fungal morphology and rDNA ITS (Internal Transcribed Spacer) sequences. Enzyme activities were screened by six special selective media.

RESULTS

A total of 1689 strains of salt-tolerant fungi were isolated. Morphology and ITS sequence analysis identified these fungi to 41 species of 15 described genera, of which Aspergillus sp. and Penicillium sp. were the dominant populations. Studies on enzyme activities of 41 sequenced strains showed that 8 strains produce cellulase, 9 strains produce amylase, 5 strains produce compound enzyme, 16 strains produce protease, 3 strains produce lipase and no strain produce chitonsanase. Acrodontium sp. 8m and Aspergillus sp. 86b produced the most multiple enzymes, while Penicillium sp. 41m produced comparatively higher protease.

CONCLUSION

There were abundant salt-tolerant fungi from marine sediment samples in the South China Sea, and more strains had enzyme activities.