Mortierella and allied genera in Mortierellaceae from Korea

Mortierella and allied genera in Mortierellaceae from Korea

Su Jin Kim, Ju Chan Son, Ju Hee Seok, Min Kyung Kim, Do Young Song, Thuong Nguyen, and Hyang Burm Lee*

Environmental Microbiology Lab, Dept. of Agricultural Biological Chemistry, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 61186, Korea

*Corresponding author, e-mail: hblee@jnu.ac.kr

Mortierella Coemans belongs to the family Mortierellaceae, order Mortierellales, and phylum Mortierellomycota, with approximately 100 described species. They are ubiquitously saprotrophic, can be isolated from soil, freshwater, leaf litter, and animal feces. Mortierella spp. have been known to produce γ-linolenic acid, arachidonic acid, and also have the ability to degrade polyaromatic hydrocarbons. During investigation of fungal diversity in family Mortierellaceae from soil habitats in Korea, a total of 18 isolates were obtained. Based on the morphological characteristics and sequence analysis of the internal transcribed (ITS) regions and ribosomal DNA large subunit (LSU), these isolates were identified as eight species of Mortierella and allied genera, including one new species and one new record from Korea. Our findings contribute to the current knowledge of the species diversity in the family Mortierellaceae in Korea.