Fungal diversity of mangrove-associated sponges from New Washington, Aklan, Philippines

Mark S Calabon; Resurreccion B Sadaba; Wilfredo L Campos

doi:10.1080/21501203.2018.1518934

Fungal diversity of mangrove-associated sponges from New Washington, Aklan, Philippines

Mycology. 2018 Sep 17;10(1):6-21. doi: 10.1080/21501203.2018.1518934. eCollection 2019 Mar.

Authors

Mark S Calabon¹, Resurreccion B Sadaba², Wilfredo L Campos^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of the Philippines Visayas, Miagao, Philippines.
² Division of Biological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, University of the Philippines Visayas, Miagao, Iloilo, Philippines.
³ OceanBio and MarineBio Laboratories, Division of Biological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, University of the Philippines Visayas, Miagao, Iloilo, Philippines.

Abstract

Sponge-associated fungi are the least explored marine fungal groups. It is only in recent years that fungal symbionts of marine sponges have received attention mainly due to the isolation of bioactive metabolites while not much attention was given to their specificity, biogeography and exact roles in marine sponges. The diversity of fungi associated with mangrove sponges (Axinella sp., Halichondria cf. panicea, Haliclona sp., Tedania sp.) collected from New Washington, Aklan, Philippines were investigated using morphological observation. A total of 110 species of sponge-associated fungi belonging to 22 genera of ascomycetes with 18 genera of asexual morphs whose sexual stage is unknown, 2 genera of basidiomycetes, 21 morphospecies of Mycelia sterilia, 1 unidentified yeast species and 11 unidentified hyphomycetes were isolated from four species of mangrove sponges. This is the first study that explored the diversity and ecology of sponge-associated fungi in mangrove habitats from the Philippines. The results of the study suggest host-preference by various fungal taxa and the development of fungi on these hosts appeared to be strongly influenced by the characteristics or nature of the immediate environment.

Keywords: Host-preference; mangrove sponges; marine fungi; sponge-associated fungi; tropical mycology.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST), Department of Science and Technology – Science Education Institute (DOST-SEI) and University of the Philippines Visayas – Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Extension.