La Torre Renato Daniel, Ramos Daniel, Mejía Mayra Doris, Neyra Edgar, Loarte Edwin, Orjeda Gisella
Laboratorio de Genómica y Bioinformática para la Biodiversidad, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, German Amezaga 375, Lima 15081, Peru.
Dirección de Investigación en Glaciares, Instituto Nacional de Investigación en Glaciares y Ecosistemas de Montaña, Centenario 2656, Huaraz 02002, Peru.
J Fungi (Basel). 2023 May 11;9(5):552. doi: 10.3390/jof9050552.
DNA barcoding is a powerful method for the identification of lichenized fungi groups for which the diversity is already well-represented in nucleotide databases, and an accurate, robust taxonomy has been established. However, the effectiveness of DNA barcoding for identification is expected to be limited for understudied taxa or regions. One such region is Antarctica, where, despite the importance of lichens and lichenized fungi identification, their genetic diversity is far from characterized. The aim of this exploratory study was to survey the lichenized fungi diversity of King George Island using a fungal barcode marker as an initial identification tool. Samples were collected unrestricted to specific taxa in coastal areas near Admiralty Bay. Most samples were identified using the barcode marker and verified up to the species or genus level with a high degree of similarity. A posterior morphological evaluation focused on samples with novel barcodes allowed for the identification of unknown , , and s.l. species. These results contribute to better represent the lichenized fungi diversity in understudied regions such as Antarctica by increasing the richness of the nucleotide databases. Furthermore, the approach used in this study is valuable for exploratory surveys in understudied regions to guide taxonomic efforts towards species recognition and discovery.
DNA条形码技术是一种强大的方法，可用于识别地衣化真菌群体，这些群体的多样性在核苷酸数据库中已有很好的体现，并且已经建立了准确、可靠的分类学。然而，对于研究较少的分类单元或地区，预计DNA条形码技术在识别方面的有效性将受到限制。南极就是这样一个地区，尽管地衣和地衣化真菌的识别很重要，但它们的遗传多样性远未得到充分描述。这项探索性研究的目的是使用真菌条形码标记作为初始识别工具，调查乔治王岛的地衣化真菌多样性。在金钟湾附近的沿海地区，采集了不受特定分类单元限制的样本。大多数样本使用条形码标记进行了鉴定，并在物种或属水平上进行了高度相似性验证。随后对具有新条形码的样本进行形态学评估，从而鉴定出未知的、、和广义的物种。这些结果通过增加核苷酸数据库的丰富度，有助于更好地呈现南极等研究较少地区的地衣化真菌多样性。此外，本研究中使用的方法对于在研究较少地区进行探索性调查很有价值，可指导分类学工作以实现物种识别和发现。
