We evaluated the fungal diversity associated with carbonate veins and two types of salt encrustation in rocks in a polar desert region of continental Antarctica using DNA a metabarcoding approach. We detected 262,268 reads grouped into 517 amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) assigned to the phyla Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Mortierellomycota and Mucoromycota. Fourteen ASVs belonging to the genera Trichosporon, Mortierella, Penicillium, Aspergillus, Cladosporium, Coprinellus, Pleurotus and Pseudogymnoascus were assessed to be dominant taxa. The fungal communities of the three habitats sampled displayed high diversity indices when compared with other habitats of Antarctica, although differing in detail, with the highest diversity indices in the gypsum crust type 2. Only 48 of the 517 ASVs (9.28%) were detected in all three habitats, including dominant, intermediate and minor components. In contrast with previous studies of fungal communities living in the ultra-extreme conditions of continental Antarctica, application of metabarcoding revealed the DNA of a rich and complex resident fungal community. The ASVs detected included fungi with different ecological roles, with xerophilic, human- and animal-associated, phytopathogenic, saprotrophic, mutualistic, psychrotolerant and cosmopolitan taxa. This sequence diversity may be the result of deposition of fungal propagules over time driven by air currents, precipitation or human activities in the region.

我们使用metabarcoding方法评估了南极大陆极地沙漠地区岩石中与碳酸盐脉和两种盐壳相关的真菌多样性。我们检测到262,268个读段，分为517个扩增子序列变体（ASV），这些变体分配给门孢子囊，担子菌，Mortierellomycota和Mucoromycota。属于Trichosporon，Mortierella，Penicillium，Aspergillus，Cladosporium，Coprinellus，Pleurotus和Pseudogymnoascus属的14种ASV。被评估为主要的分类单元。与南极其他生境相比，采样的三个生境的真菌群落显示出较高的多样性指数，尽管细节有所不同，但在2类石膏结壳中多样性指数最高。所有三个栖息地，包括主要，中间和次要组成部分。与先前对生活在南极大陆极端极端条件下的真菌群落的研究相比，元条形码的应用揭示了丰富而复杂的常驻真菌群落的DNA。检测到的ASV包括具有不同生态作用的真菌，具有嗜干性，与人和动物相关的，致植物病的，腐生的，互生的，抗精神病的和大都会类群。