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Discovering Novel Polyextremotolerant Fungi, And Determining Their Ecological Role Within The Biological Soil Crust Consortium, Erin Carr
School of Biological Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
The ecological niche of polyextremotolerant fungi within oligotrophic ecosystems such as biological soil crusts has not yet been determined. These fungi persist in locations where nutrients are depleted while simultaneously surrounded by autotrophic microbes such as algae and cyanobacteria. Yet it has not been shown that they are engaging in any exchange of nutrients the way lichens do. However, there is seemingly no other way for these fungi to obtain vital nutrients, such as carbon or nitrogen, other than from these microbes. Here we have isolated polyextremotolerant fungi from cold desert biological soil crusts which are a microbial biofilm that …