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Seasonal and plant‐dependent variations in diversity, abundance and stress tolerance of epiphytic yeasts in desert habitats
Author(s) -
AbuGhosh Said,
Droby Samir,
Korine Carmi
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
environmental microbiology reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.229
H-Index - 69
ISSN - 1758-2229
DOI - 10.1111/1758-2229.12161
Subject(s) - epiphyte , yeast , biology , abundance (ecology) , arid , ecosystem , botany , habitat , extreme environment , desert climate , phyllosphere , species diversity , ecology , bacteria , genetics
Summary We studied the epiphytic yeast species of the plants of the N egev D esert and the D ead S ea region, I srael, which are considered one of the most extreme hyper‐arid lands in the world. For this purpose, we developed isolation protocols; we performed morphological, cultural and molecular identification tests and compared yeast diversity between the locations and the plants. The composition of the yeast populations present in the study's plants underwent seasonal fluctuations, whereas differences in community compositions were significant within sites. The maximum number of species of yeast occurred in autumn and C ryptococcus spp. were predominant year round. The isolated yeast strains showed an unusual tolerance to extreme growth conditions, such as high temperatures (up to 72% viability at 50° C ), lethal hydrogen peroxide and NaCl concentrations. These results suggest that epiphytic yeasts inhabit the plants of the D ead S ea region and the N egev D esert have a community structure that is unique to the plant species and have a high tolerance to the harsh conditions that enables them to adapt to an arid ecosystem.