Soil fungal community composition at Mars Oasis, a southern maritime Antarctic site, assessed by PCR amplification and cloning

PCR amplification of ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 regions of rDNA followed by cloning was used to determine the fungi present in soil from three sites at Mars Oasis in the southern maritime Antarctic. The soils sampled were adjacent to, or distant from, a meltwater pond, and had moisture contents of 8 %, 3.6 % and 2.5 %. Sequences bearing close similarity to Chytridiales were commonly recorded in clone libraries from the wettest soil. In contrast, sequences from the driest soil matched closely with ectomycorrhizal members of the Helotiales and less closely with Serendipita-like Sebacinales, Tetracladium and ascomycetous black yeasts, such as Rhinocladiella- and Cladophialophora-like fungi and members of the Verrucariales. Sequences loosely similar to Tetracladium, Arrhenia and Omphalina were frequently recovered from the soil of moderate moisture content. Our study corroborates research from the Dry Valleys indicating that soil moisture has an important influence on the composition of Antarctic soil fungal communities.