ИСТИНА

This is the first study of the mycobiota of the littoral sediments of the Arctic Shokalsky Island. The diversity of fungi (by morphological-cultural and molecular-genetic methods), as well as the composition and structure of fungal biomass (by direct microscopic methods) were studied. Total 119 colonies of mycelial fungi and 8 yeast colonies were isolated from all the samples (from 1 to 26 colonies per gram of dry weight of a single sample). It is not enough. But the diversity of fungi is surprisingly high: 7 yeast morphotypes, 13 species of mycelial fungi (all – anamorphs of Ascomycota), 76 unidentified morphotypes of mycelial fungi (mostly non-sporulating cultures). Such a high proportion of sterile cultures was noted for the first time in culture studies of marine sediments. Molecular studies of these cultures have shown that only 10 sterile isolates belong to Basidiomycota, and all other cultures belong to Ascomycota. In general, Ascomycota (in particular – Leotiomycetes) predominate in the species diversity of mycobiota. Fungal biomass is small (average 0.196 mg / g of dry sediments), and is represented mainly by spores (average 86%). The share of living biomass averaged 47%.