Fungi from Admiralty Bay (King George Island, Antarctica) Soils and Marine Sediments.

Extreme environments such as the Antarctic can lead to the discovery of new microbial taxa, as well as to new microbial-derived natural products. Considering that little is known yet about the diversity and the genetic resources present in these habitats, the main objective of this study was to evaluate the fungal communities from extreme environments collected at Aldmiralty Bay (Antarctica). A total of 891 and 226 isolates was obtained from soil and marine sediment samples, respectively.

Cold-adapted enzymes produced by fungi from terrestrial and marine Antarctic environments.

Antarctica is the coldest, windiest, and driest continent on Earth. In this sense, microorganisms that inhabit Antarctica environments have to be adapted to harsh conditions. Fungal strains affiliated with Ascomycota and Basidiomycota phyla have been recovered from terrestrial and marine Antarctic samples.