Marine fungal biotechnology: an ecological perspective

This paper reviews the potential of marine fungi in biotechnology. The unique physico-chemical properties of the marine environment are likely to have conferred marine fungi with special physiological adaptations that could be exploited in biotechnology. The emphasis of this review is on marine fungi from a few unique ecological habitats and their potential in biotechnological applications. These habitats are endophytic or fungi associated with marine algae, seagrass and mangroves, fungi cohabiting with marine invertebrates, especially corals and sponges, fungi in marine detritus and in marine extreme environments. It is likely that microorganisms, including fungi may be the actual producers of many bioactive compounds reported in marine plants and animals. Fungi occurring in decomposing plant organic material or detritus in the sea have been shown to be source of several wood-degrading enzymes of importance in paper and pulp industries and bioremediation. One of the major applications of the thraustochytrids occurring in marine detritus and sediments is the production of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), an omega-3 fatty acid used as nutraceutical. The deep-sea, an extreme environment of high hydrostatic pressure and low temperatures, hydrothermal vents with high hydrostatic pressure, high temperatures and metal concentrations and anoxic marine sediments are some of the unexplored sources of biotechnologically useful fungi. An understanding of the adaptations of extremotolerant fungi in such habitats is likely to provide us a greater insight into the adaptations of eukaryotes and an avenue from which to discover novel genes.