Temperature-dependent catabolic traits of cold-adapted soil yeasts Goffeauzyma gilvescens and Naganishia albidosimilis from Hornsund, Svalbard

• Published in: Polish polar research
• Main Authors: Klimek, Beata, Ryszka, Przemysław, Zieliński, Piotr, Carlea, Federica, Wojczulanis-Jakubas, Katarzyna, Wloch-Salamon, Dominika
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Polish
• Published: 29.10.2024
• ISSN: 0138-0338; 2081-8262
• DOI: 10.24425/ppr.2024.150880

Studies on the diversity and catabolic functionality of fungi in Arctic soils are still scarce. This knowledge gap needs to be urgently addressed, as global warming may have unpredictable effects on cold-adapted fungal species. We isolated two yeast species of the family Filobasidiaceae: Goffeauzyma gilvescens and Naganishia albidosimilis, from soil in central Spitsbergen (Svalbard) and characterised their metabolic properties at two temperatures, 4°C and 20°C, in a laboratory test using Biolog® FF plates. The results of the Biolog® test, which followed the molecular identification of the strains, confirmed that the two species differed in their functional (catabolic) characteristics. The effect of temperature was also highly significant and the metabolic characteristics of two species varied between the two temperatures tested. As expected, among other chemical guilds of substrates on Biolog® plates, carbohydrates were the most used and also the most segregating of the strains studied, especially at 20°C. However, the relative use of almost all substrate groups changed between the two temperatures for both species tested, indicating that temperature can also affect soil microorganisms indirectly by altering their metabolic pathways. As soil microorganisms form a complex trophic and non-trophic network, such changes in metabolism under increasing temperature may also alter relationships between species and between species and the environment. Our study contributes to a better understanding of the microbial ecology of the unique ecosystem of polar soils.