Marine Fungi

Marine Fungi
 Marine fungi are species of fungi that live in

marine.
 They are not a taxonomic group but share a

common habitat.
 Obligatemarine fungi grow exclusively in the

marine habitat while wholly or sporadically
submerged in sea water.
 Facultative marine fungi normally occupy terrestrial

or fresh water habitat but are capable of living or
sporulation in a marine habitat.
Different marine habitats support very
difficult fungal communities.
Fungi can be found in niches ranging from

ocean depths and coastal waters to mangrove
swamps and estuaries with low salinity
levels.
 Nutrition:
Marine fungi can be saprobic or parasitic on
animals, saprobic or parasitic on algae,
saprobic on plants and saprobic on dead
wood.
Factors influencing the location of marine fungi
1- Water Temperature
2- Salinity
3- Water movement
4- The presence of:
A- Suitable substrates for colonization.
B- Interspecific competition.
C- Pollution.
5- The oxygen content of the water.
Some marine fungi which have ventured
into the sea from terrestrial habitats include
species that:
1- Burrow into sand grains, living in the

pores.
2- Other live inside stony corals and may

become pathogenic if the coral is stressed by
rising sea temperatures.
Types of Marine Fungi
• About 444 species of marine fungi

have been described, including ten
species of basidiomycetes, and 360
species of ascomycetes.
How fungi can be isolated
Direct isolation techniques
1- Direct transfer
The term "direct is applied to
techniques involving the simple
transfer of a mould from its natural
habitat to a pure culture situation in
the laboratory.
2- Moist chambers
 Direct isolation of fungi is often more effective
if the natural substrate has been kept moist for
one to several weeks to allow moulds to grow
and sporulate. The easiest method involves a
container called a moist chamber.
 Moist chambers can take any number of forms,

but are basically containers holding a material
such as cotton, paper, cloth, sterile sand or soil,
or peat moss that can be kept moist for several
weeks. The specimen is placed on top of the
moist material and left until moulds begin to
grow on it.
A moist chamber containing three pieces of
dung
3- Direct plating
Often it is most convenient to place
materials that are of interest directly on a
nutrient agar medium. It is a simple
technique, requiring the placing of small
bits of the substance on the surface of the
agar or the pouring of melted but cooled
agar over the fragments. After a few days'
incubation mould colonies appear on the
surface, and can be transferred into pure
culture.
4- Dilution plating
In this technique 1 gram (dry weight) of the
material to be studied is ground up (if
necessary) and dispersed in 9 ml of sterile
water.
After a few days' incubation, colonies will

appear in varying densities, depending upon
the amount of dilution from the original
material.
 Baits:
Many moulds have quite specific nutrient
requirements and are specialized to use
materials that other fungi use with difficulty
or not at all.
We can take advantage of this for the

isolation of fungi by presenting a particular
substance to the environment for
colonization and then later recovering it for
isolation of the fungi that occupied it.
Other kinds of baits might be pieces of
wood, insects, carrot chunks, plastics,
hair……..etc.
The bait can be submerged in a particular

habitat in nature or in a moist chamber.
The most commonly baited habitat is water,

both fresh and marine. Again, almost
anything can serve as a bait and the water
can be either naturally occurring or in a
Petri dish.
Good results can be obtained by putting
some pond water in a Petri dish and floating
on it a few sesame seeds that have been
heated until they have popped.
Within three or four days the seeds will be

covered with oomycetes producing
zoospores. Dead files, pollen, bits of apple
or carrot, cellophane and other materials are
also productive baits.

Marine Fungi

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Marine Fungi

 Marine fungi are species of fungi that live in

 They are not a taxonomic group but share a

 Obligatemarine fungi grow exclusively in the

 Facultative marine fungi normally occupy terrestrial

Fungi can be found in niches ranging from

1- Burrow into sand grains, living in the

2- Other live inside stony corals and may

• About 444 species of marine fungi

 Moist chambers can take any number of forms,

After a few days' incubation, colonies will

We can take advantage of this for the

The bait can be submerged in a particular

The most commonly baited habitat is water,

Within three or four days the seeds will be

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