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International Journal of Advanced Research in Engineering and Technology
(IJARET)
Volume 6, Issue 10, Oct 2015, pp. 113-117, Article ID: IJARET_06_10_016
Available online at
http://www.iaeme.com/IJARET/issues.asp?JType=IJARET&VType=6&IType=10
ISSN Print: 0976-6480 and ISSN Online: 0976-6499
© IAEME Publication
___________________________________________________________________________
THE IMPACT OF BIOTECHNOLOGY ON
MARINE FUNGAL DIVERSITY
P. S. Sridhar
Professor, Marine Engineering, AMET University
Bhoopathy Bhaskaran
Professor-Marine Engineering, AMET University
M. Rajasekaran
Professor, Marine Engineering, AMET University
ABSTRACT
This paper mainly concentrates on the biotechnology view for the
exploitation of marine fungal diversity to represent its physic-chemical
properties in marine environment adaptation for the biotechnology
applications. These fungal species has the habitats of endophytic or fungi
associated marine algae or marine invertebrates especially like corals and
sponges found in detritus and extreme marine environment. Fungal species
associates in many biological activities such as decomposing plant material,
production of bioactive compounds in plants and animals due to the presence
of degrading enzymes and also find its application in paper and pulp
industries and bioremediation. The deep sea environment adapted fungi is yet
to be explore for its sources of biotechnology application, though these
environment has high hydrostatic pressure with low temperature or
hydrothermal conditions. Understanding the adaptation for fungal species is
used to investigate the novel compounds to use in biotechnology application.
Key words: Endophytic, Hydrothermal, Bioremediation.
Cite this Article: P. S. Sridhar, Bhoopathy Bhaskaran and M. Rajasekaran.
The Impact of Biotechnology on Marine Fungal Diversity. International
Journal of Advanced Research in Engineering and Technology, 6(10), 2015,
pp. 113-117.
http://www.iaeme.com/IJARET/issues.asp?JType=IJARET&VType=6&IType=10

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P. S. Sridhar, Bhoopathy Bhaskaran and M. Rajasekaran
http://www.iaeme.com/IJARET/index.asp 114 editor@iaeme.com
1. INTRODUCTION
The application of fungi in biotechnology has been for last five decades, so it is
commonly known to as “fungal biotechnology or mycotechnology”. Many of the
researches had been taken for the terrestrial fungi which are used to produce
extracellular enzymes, antibiotics, protein production by the modern molecular tools.
Several articles compare the application and importance of the terrestrial and marine
fungal species. Therefore, marine fungi form an ecological balance and not belong to
taxonomic group. These marine fungi grow; sporulate for germination in sea water
exclusively. But the facultative marine fungi adapts to fresh water environment to
explore its diversity. So far 800 species of marine fungi have been reported. Fungal
species belonging to ascomycetes, anamorphs and basidiomycetes. Among the
straminipilan fungi belonging to the oomycetes which is fairly widespread in the
marine environment. This review is mainly focused on the ecology adaptation to
understand the fungal organisms for its unique characteristics of marine fungi and its
potential application in mycotechnology. This paper emphasis on (i) endophytic fungi
in marine algae, sea grasses, mangroves and its benefits (ii) fungi associated with
invertebrates like corals and sponges for their potential bioactive compound
production (iii) adaptation conditions of fungi from deep sea environment such as
high hydrostatic pressure with low temperature, hyper saline and oxygen deficient
sediments of Dead Sea marine environment.
2. COMMON FEATURES OF MARINE FUNGI ASSOCIATED
WITH MARINE ENVIRONMENT
It is very essential to know the unique properties of marine environment for the
application in marine biotechnology due to several reasons:
 A good knowledge about the ecosystem to helps to survey the novel genes.
 Physical factors of the environment adapts to the organisms influences the
biotechnology production, such factors are
 Low temperature
 High hydrostatic pressure at deep sea environment
 salinity and pH :
Sea water has salinity of 33-35 ppt, when compared to fresh water less than 0.05%
salts. Hyper saline seawaters found in Dead Sea containing 50-100 ppt or 5-10% salts.
Terrestrial fungi grows best at pH 4.5-6.0, whereas facultative marine fungi grow at
pH 7-8 to produce various extracellular enzymes
 low water potential:
It is one of most problem is faced by seawater, where the marine organisms need
to maintain their water potentials in cells to enable water uptake. Marine fungi
maintain them by accumulating osmolytes like polyol, glycerol, etc. Marine yeasts
capable to produce glycerol to maintain osmotic potential with increased salinity.
 High concentration of sodium ions:
The presence of high concentration of sodium ions in seawater is one of the unique
properties to the marine living cells. Therefore, the presence of small concentrations is
also toxic to the living cells in the terrestrial as well freshwater environments. Most of
the marine fungal species are known to reduce the toxicity of sodium ions by
sequestering them in vacuoles or by efficient sodium efflux ATPase. Thus, it is the

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The Impact of Biotechnology on Marine Fungal Diversity
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best tool to understand the physiology growth and enzyme production in the presence
of sodium.
 Oligotrophic conditions
Nutrient poor and oxygen rich conditions are known to say as oligotrophic conditions,
where fungi grows on microscopic lenses, glass slides in terrestrial environment .
While in water surface nutrients are comparatively in low state results for non-free
growth of fungi but can be seen as micro-colonies in marine sediments.
3. ENDOPHYTIC FUNGI IN MARINE ENVIRONMENT
The fungi which are symbioses that lives in other living cells like plant tissues which
cause no harms or use them as a part of its life cycle are known to refer as endophytic
fungi and other organisms are also found to live in such atmospheres are bacteria and
actinomycetes. Several terrestrial endophytic fungi are called as lichens, have been
investigated for its novel compound for the use of mankind. With this same idea of
investigation on several fungi as endophytes of marine algae and plants to produce
secondary metabolites. Such intervention was resulted in the isolation of novel
polyketide ascosalipyrrolidinone from marine fungus Aschochyta salicorniae
associated with the marine green alga Ulva species and various isolations of fungi
associated with algal-fungal, marine mangroves, sea grasses etc. But these
interventions did not satisfy and has no idea whether these fungi are originally
supported as endophytic plants or they are the metabolites of such marine plants
doubtfully kept as unsuccessful. Still further investigations need to be carried out in
detail.
4. MARINE ANIMAL ASSOCIATED FUNGI
Several examples of terrestrial fungi associated with insects were found to produce
various metabolites have been reported, similarly marine fungi also associated with
the animals in marine environments. Association of fungi with marine animals ranges
in order of saprophytic-symbiotic-parasitic. Several fungal species associated with
marine invertebrates isolated from gut, gastro-intestinal parts of the fish reported to
produce interesting secondary metabolites. Such investigation reported to the
production of novel platelet activating factors (A, B, B1, B2) isolated from the culture
of phoma sample taken from the crab shell Chinocetes opilio. Similarly, sponges are
known to produce bioactive compounds active against fungi, bacteria, malaria, viral
organisms. Though, marine sponges are well known bio-fermentors for the marine
microorganisms like bacteria, fungi for the production of bioactive compounds.
Sponge-fungal like yeast species are highly worth to investigate for production of
endosymbiosis bioactive compounds. The bioactive compounds are produced from
the marine animal associated fungi need to examine for the culture in organic media
where there bioactive compounds are active against insects and anthropods.
5. MARINE FUNGI IN DETRITUS
The detritus formation is a critic process of re-mineralization in marine ecosystem; it
is due to the microorganisms feed on the dead organic matter for its food resulting in
decomposition by the production of extracellular degrading enzymes. Detritus
formation in coastal regions by marine macrophytes, particularly mangroves
contribute a large amount of organic matter in water. Such degrading enzymes has
vast role in biotechnological applications. Degrading enzymes like cellulases, xylases,
ligninases were isolated from terrestrial fungi find its application in paper and pulp

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P. S. Sridhar, Bhoopathy Bhaskaran and M. Rajasekaran
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industries. With this experiments marine fungi also isolated for those enzymes, some
of those investigations results in various forms of biotechnology applications.
The marine fungi associated in detritus environment not only produce degrading
enzymes, they also capable in the production of secondary metabolites like polyketide
metabolite of obionin-A was isolated from the broth culture of Leptosphaeria obiones
obtained on salt marsh grass Spartina alterniflora. Similarly, it was reported from
Hawaiian mangrove for the production of metabolic compounds which are good
source of antibiotics. Therefore various numbers of antimicrobial compounds have
reported for woody colonizing marine fungi. Such ecological condition is very
important to know for the screening process in drug discovery.
6. DEEP SEA ENVIRONMENTAL FUNGI
Extreme marine environment conditions are found to elevate with hydrostatic pressure
and low temperature, whereas hydrothermal vents have hydrostatic pressure with high
concentration of metals and hyper saline water bodies and hypoxic conditions is seen
in coastal and offshore waters. Several pharmaceutical companies focused in extreme
marine environment fungal species for bioprospecting like bacteria. But the fungi
from these conditions did not help for that commercial application. But, some fungi
isolated from the deep-sea sediments at the depth of 5000 m in Central Indian Basin
under hydrostatic pressure of 200-300 bar has bio-tolerant potential for application in
commercial fermentors of large capacities (above 10,000- 50,000 L).
Deep sea has low temperature of 2-4°C where the microbes survive at this
temperature have cold active enzymes which is used for waste digestion in food
processing and preservation, detergents in cold wash and also helps in conservation of
heat energy. Some deep sea fungi such as Aspergillus terreus produces alkaline
protease, serine protease shows maximum activity of 26% at 15°C and about 10% at
2°C but alkaline protease from another mesophilic species of Penicillium did not
show any activity below 35°C. Investigations are also made on hyper saline water
fungi found in Dead sea invoke for the stress tolerance in recombinant yeast
production to govern several genes and also in genetic engineering for salt-tolerant in
agricultural applications.
Bacteria are well known for its denitrification process in terrestrial soil.
Comparatively, the same idea was investigated recently in terrestrial fungi under
anaerobic conditions. Therefore, marine fungi also play an important role in
denitrification in coastal waters under intermittent hypoxic conditions. Natural
degradation of crude oil were seen in filamentous fungi in the coastal waters has been
also reported. However, this has not received much attention because still more
discovery and screening of novel enzyme and bioactive compounds of enigmatic
microorganisms of extreme marine habitat fungi described as a common ancestor of
animals and fungi may provide as new tools for the study of evolutionary biology and
advanced biotechnological applications.
7. CONCLUSION
This paper reviews on the marine fungal biotechnology for its application in various
fields. It was concluded from this study, the applications of terrestrial fungi has more
advantage over marine fungi. So finally it was concluded that it need further
investigation of marine fungal species in future. The future studies recommended in
aspects for the production of novel compounds from endophytic marine fungi,
extreme marine environment fungal species for salt-tolerance in bioremediation

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process and it’s genomic and proteomic study for the bio-active compound for the
revolution in biological research.
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