Fungal community in the soil of Punta Hannequim, Antarctica, assessed by environmental DNA metabarcoding

The fungal community present in soil collected from Punta Hannequim on King George Island, Antarctica, was evaluated using DNA metabarcoding through high-throughput sequencing. A total of 123 fungal amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) were detected, belonging to the phyla Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Chytridiomycota, Mortierellomycota, and Rozellomycota. The most dominant ASVs were from the genera Trichoderma, Gorgomyces, and Neobulgaria. In addition, many unassigned ASVs were identified and may represent previously unknown fungal diversity in Antarctic microbial ecology. The observed ASV richness rarefaction curve showed that all diversity of the sample was recovered. The taxonomic groups observed in the sampled region included endemic, cosmopolitan, and opportunistic plant pathogenic taxa. The results presented expand knowledge of the fungal community in the soil of King George Island, aiming to guide the development of selective culture media capable of recovering greater microbial diversity from this environment and consequently, broadening perspectives in the field of Antarctic mycology.