• Mycobiology
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.401-404
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• 2014

A new recorded species of Mortierella was recovered during the investigation of fungal communities in soil samples collected from different locations of Gangwon-do, Korea. The species was identified and described as Mortierella alpina on the basis of phylogenetic analysis of internal transcribed spacer sequences and morphological characteristics. This species has not been officially reported from Korea thus far.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.377-384
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• 2021

Researching the soil fungal community is important to understand the interaction between fungi and living plants. However, too few studies have examined the soil fungal community and their interactions with plants. Rhododendron mucronulatum, commonly known as Korean rosebay, is an important forest resource that has aesthetic, ecological, and potential pharmacological values. We used a pyrosequencing method to analyze the characteristics of fungal communities from R. mucronulatum soil samples from Biseul mountain county park, which is one of the famous places for large R. mucronulatum colonies in South Korea. We collected soil core samples in February and August at three sites in the Biseul Mountain County Park, taking into consideration the regional and seasonal conditions. We obtained 454,157 validated reads after pyrosequencing all six samples. The fungal communities from the first observation spot in August had the richest species diversity among the samples. Basidiomycota, Ascomycota, and Mortierellomycota were major phyla in the samples. Agaricales_f, Mortierellaceae, and Clavariaceae were major families in the samples. The genus Mortierella was the most dominant in all six samples. Overall, 19 genera could be associated with R. mucronulatum. Sample 1 had 109 genera in sample 1, sample 2 had 111 genera, and sample 3 had 112 genera that were uniquely identified. The samples collected in August had 28 identified genera, that existed only in summer samples, indicating a weather effect. This study can be used as basic research to understand the relationship between soil fungi and plants.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.375-382
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• 2018

Members of the genus Mortierella (Mortierellales) are filamentous fungi, which are found on nearly all substrates, but more frequently in soil. Till date, 7 species of Mortierella have been reported in Korea, but being a ubiquitous group with high species diversity in temperate zones, this number is still low. During a survey of fungal biodiversity in Korea, we collected many isolates of Mortierella, and through morphological and molecular phylogenetic analyses, identified them to be 3 previously unrecorded species, namely, M. chienii, M. epicladia, and M. gamsii. A total of 10 Mortierella species in Korea, including the 3 species reported in the present study, are widely distributed in 5 out of 7 phylogenetic groups of this genus. This indicates that the diversity of Mortierella was so far underestimated in Korea. Multi-locus sequence analysis is required to provide a more reliable backbone for some uncertain phylogenetic groupings and to more clearly define a species of Mortierella, which would encourage deeper research in the diversity and ecological roles of Mortierella and allied genera.