DNA barcoding of some lichenized fungi from Dismal Island

Year 2025, Volume: 18 Issue: 3, 372 - 388

Dilara Bişgin , Mehmet Gökhan Halıcı , Merve Yiğit

https://doi.org/10.46309/biodicon.2025.1630503

Abstract

Lichenized fungi are the most dominant macro organisms in Antarctic terrestrial ecosystems. Studies on lichens in Antarctica have a history of approximately two centuries. Especially with the recent use of DNA-based techniques in taxonomy studies, lichen biodiversity studies in Antarctica has accelerated. Dismal Island is the largest of the Faure Islands, 1.9 kilometers long and 60 meters high, mostly covered with ice in Marguerite Bay on the west coast of Graham Land. In the literature, there is no study directly addressing or examining lichen biodiversity on Dismal Island. In this context, the aim of this study is to examine anatomically-morphologically and to perform DNA barcoding of some lichenized fungi species from Dismal Island. Lichen samples collected from Dismal Island during the 6th Turkish National Antarctic Scientific Expedition by the second author. The collected samples were identified by anatomical and morphological examinations and DNA barcoding was performed with ITS gene region primers. As a result of the study, DNA barcoding of 11 species was performed. This species are Austroplaca hookerii (C.W. Dodge) Søchting, Frödén &Arup, Buellia russa (Hue) Darb., Candelariella flava (C.W. Dodge & Baker) Castello & Nimis, Mastodia tessellata (Hook & Harv.) Hook & Harv., Polycauliona candelaria (L.) Frödén, Arup & Søchting, Rhizoplaca aspidophora (Vain.) Follmann, Rhizocarpon geographicum (L.) DC., Tephromela atra (Huds.) Hafellner ex Kalb., Tetramelas anisomerus (Vain.) Elix., Umbilicaria antarctica Frey & I.M. Lamb., Usnea antarctica Du Rietz.

Keywords

Lichenized fungi , biodiversity , Antarctica , Dismal Island , DNA barcoding

Ethical Statement

Ethical statement: This research is based on non-invasive sampling of lichenized fungi conducted during the 6th Turkish National Antarctic Scientific Expedition, which was carried out under the official permissions granted by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) and the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey, Polar Research Institute (KARE). The study did not involve any endangered or protected species, vertebrate animals, or human participants. All procedures were conducted in accordance with relevant national and international guidelines for Antarctic scientific research. Acknowledgement: The second author gratefully acknowledges Erciyes University for providing financial support to conduct fieldwork on Horseshoe Island, Antarctica. All authors would like to thank the Dean of Research at Erciyes University for providing the necessary infrastructure and laboratory facilities at the ArGePark research building. The grammar of the manuscript was reviewed using OpenAI’s ChatGPT-4.0. No AI-generated content was included in the final version. Conflicts of interest: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. Funding: This work was financially supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK, Project Numbers 1001-121Z771 and 2209-A-1919B012203420) and the Turkish Academy of Sciences (TÜBA). Author contributions: Dilara BİŞGİN performed the microscopic examinations of the samples, participated in DNA isolation and laboratory analyses within the scope of the TÜBİTAK 2209-A project. M. Gökhan HALICI collected the samples during the 6th Turkish National Antarctic Scientific Expedition, supervised identifications, and validated the taxonomic determinations. Merve YİĞİT conducted the phylogenetic analyses, wrote the manuscript, and provided data interpretation and critical revisions. All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript. This study was presented as an oral presentation at the conference titled ‘Elegans International Scientific Conference Series, First International Conference on Life Science’ and its abstract was published in the conference book.

Supporting Institution

TÜBİTAK

Project Number

121Z771 and 1919B012203420

Thanks

The second author thanks Erciyes University for their financial support to conduct the field work on Horseshoe Island, Antarctica. All authors would like to thank Erciyes University Dean of Research for providing the necessary infrastructure and laboratory facilities at the ArGePark research building. This work was financially supported by “The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey-TÜBITAK (Project Number 1001-121Z771 and 2209-A-1919B012203420)” and “TÜBA (Turkish Academy of Sciences)”.

Dismal Adası’ndan Bazı Likenleşmiş Mantarların DNA Barkodlamaları

Abstract

Likenleşmiş mantarlar Antarktika karasal ekosisteminin en baskın makroorganizmalarıdır. Antarktika’daki likenlerle ilgili çalışmalar yaklaşık 2 asırlık bir geçmişe sahiptir. Özellikle taksonomi tabanlı DNA-temelli tekniklerin kullanımı ile Antarktika’daki liken biyoçeşitlilik çalışmaları hız kazanmıştır. Dismal Adası Faure Adaları’nın en büyüğüdür, Graham Toprakları’nın batı kıyısındaki Margurite Limanı’nda bulunan 1.9 kilometre uzunluğunda ve 60 metre genişliğindeki kıta genellikle buzla kaplıdır. Literatüre bakıldığında Dismal Adası’ndaki liken biyoçeşitliliğini inceleyen ya da bundan bahseden direkt bir çalışma yoktur. Bu bağlamda bu çalışmada Dismal Adası’ndaki bazı likenleşmiş mantarların anatomik-morfolojik olarak incelenmesi ve DNA barkodlamalarının yapılması amaçlanmıştır. Liken örnekleri ikinci yazar tarafından 6. Türk Ulusal Antarktika Bilim Seferi sırasında Dismal Adası’ndan toplanmıştır. Toplanan örnekler anatomik ve morfolojik incelemelerle teşhis edilmiştir ve ITS gen bölgesi primerleri kullanılarak DNA barkodlamaları gerçekleştirilmiştir. Çalışma sonucunda 11 türün DNA barkodlaması gerçekleştirilmiştir. Bu türler Austroplaca hookerii (C.W. Dodge) Søchting, Frödén &Arup, Buellia russa (Hue) Darb., Candelariella flava ( C.W. Dodge & Baker) Castello & Nimis, Mastodia tessellata (Hook & Harv.) Hook & Harv., Polycauliona candelaria (L.) Frödén, Arup & Søchting, Rhizoplaca aspidophora (Vain.) Follmann, Rhizocarpon geographicum (L.) DC., Tephromela atra (Huds.) Hafellner ex Kalb., Tetramelas anisomerus (Vain.) Elix., Umbilicaria antarctica Frey & I.M. Lamb., Usnea antarctica Du Rietz şeklindedir

Keywords

Likenleşmiş mantar , biyoçeşitlilik , Dismal Adası , DNA barkodlama.

Ethical Statement

Ethical statement: This research is based on non-invasive sampling of lichenized fungi conducted during the 6th Turkish National Antarctic Scientific Expedition, which was carried out under the official permissions granted by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) and the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey, Polar Research Institute (KARE). The study did not involve any endangered or protected species, vertebrate animals, or human participants. All procedures were conducted in accordance with relevant national and international guidelines for Antarctic scientific research. Acknowledgement: The second author gratefully acknowledges Erciyes University for providing financial support to conduct fieldwork on Horseshoe Island, Antarctica. All authors would like to thank the Dean of Research at Erciyes University for providing the necessary infrastructure and laboratory facilities at the ArGePark research building. The grammar of the manuscript was reviewed using OpenAI’s ChatGPT-4.0. No AI-generated content was included in the final version. Conflicts of interest: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. Funding: This work was financially supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK, Project Numbers 1001-121Z771 and 2209-A-1919B012203420) and the Turkish Academy of Sciences (TÜBA). Author contributions: Dilara BİŞGİN performed the microscopic examinations of the samples, participated in DNA isolation and laboratory analyses within the scope of the TÜBİTAK 2209-A project. M. Gökhan HALICI collected the samples during the 6th Turkish National Antarctic Scientific Expedition, supervised identifications, and validated the taxonomic determinations. Merve YİĞİT conducted the phylogenetic analyses, wrote the manuscript, and provided data interpretation and critical revisions. All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript. This study was presented as an oral presentation at the conference titled ‘Elegans International Scientific Conference Series, First International Conference on Life Science’ and its abstract was published in the conference book.

Project Number

121Z771 and 1919B012203420

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