Isolation and identification of fungi from Sečovlje salteren bitterns

Sečoveljske soline štejemo med solarne soline, za katere je značilno izparevanje morske vode v zaporednih plitkih umetno ustvarjenih bazenih v namen pridobivanja halita (NaCl). Ko se ga večina obori, ostane matična lužina oz. grenčica, ki je bogata z drugimi solmi, kot sta MgCl2 in MgSO4. Raziskovalci so v zadnjih 15 letih iz slanice solin osamili in okarakterizirali številne vrste gliv. Malo pa je znanega o njihovem življenju v vodi po evaporaciji halita,v grenčici, kar je bil cilj naše raziskave. Grenčica med drugim vsebuje visoke koncentracije Mg2+, ki so toksični za biološke sisteme. Pred našo raziskavo so dokazali, da nekatere vrste gliv tolerirajo visoke koncentracije Mg2+ ionov. V naši študiji smo za osamitev gliv iz grenčice uporabili tri različne tehnike: filtracijo, obogatitev v tekočih stresanih, in v nestresanih kulturah. Z vsemi tremi tehnikami smo osamili 120 sevov gliv, ki smo jih na osnovi morfologije in molekularnih označevalcev taksonomsko določili. Med halotolerante smo uvrstili črne kvasovke vrst Hortaea werneckii in Phaeotheca triangularis. Osamili smo tudi halofilno glivoWallemia ichthyophaga, in pa za slanico solin dosedaj še nepoznane naseljevalke, kot je vrsta Verrucocladosporium dirinae. Med izolati pa so tudi predstavniki nekaterih še ne opisanih vrst rodov Aspergillus in Cladosporium.The Sečovlje salterns are solar salterns made by human to obtain halite (NaCl) from sea water. They are characterized by shallow ponds where sea water is sucessivelly evaporating, and different minerals are successively crystalizing, halite being the most important one. After its percipitation, the mother liquor or bittern, rich in salts like MgCl2 and MgSO4 remains. During the last 15 years researchers have isolated and characterized representatives of many fungal species from brine, but very little is known about their life in bittern, which was the aim of our study. Bittern is characterized by high concentration of Mg2+, toxic to biological systems. Nevertheless, even prior our study, it was prooven, that fungi withstand high amount of Mg salts. To isolate fungi from bittern, we used three diferent isolation techniques: (i) filtration, enrichment in (ii) liquid shake cultures and in (iii) liquid non-shaken coltures. With all three techniques, we isolated 120 fungal strains and identified them using morphological characters, as well as molecular markers. We have identified the halotolerant black yeasts Hortaea werneckii and Phaeotheca triangularis, halophilic Wallemia ichthyophaga, and untill now for salterns yet unknown species Verrucocladosporium dirinae. Among the isolates there were representatives of yet undescribed species from genera Aspergillus and Cladosporium