Research Abstracts

Using Manglicolous Mycelial Fungi to Characterize Motor Oil Degradation Potential

Puerto Rico’s coastline, marine and terrestrial ecosystem is exposed to motor oil and gasoline residual pollutants due to a high incidence of motor sea transport oil spillage. Mangroves located in Cabo Rojo’s Boquerón Bay provide great ecosystemic value and have been found to harbor fungi able to degrade components in petroleum hydrocarbons from which motor oils are made from. The aim for this research is to characterize these recovered manglicolous fungi motor oil degradation abilities, which might present a mycoremediation solution for polluted ecosystems, including mangrove coastal barrier. The mycelial fungi samples previously recovered from the Boquerón Bay in Cabo Rojo P.R are being utilized for this study. As a starting point, Aspergillus terreus, Talaromyces ruber and Penicillium paxillii biomass production in motor oil medium is being observed every 5 days for a total of 20 days incubation period. A. terreus biomass production is being examined using gravimetric analysis and the same procedures will be applied to T. ruber and P. paxilli. This study hypothesizes that the three manglicolous fungi will use motor oil as their sole carbon source which will be observed in the biomass quantification.

Fungi associated to the skin of Boa constrictor in Puerto Rico

Emergent fungal diseases represent imminent danger to Puerto Rico’s reptile endemic fauna, which includes the endangered Puerto Rican boa Chilabothrus inornatus. It is known that the presence of the Snake Fungal Disease (SFD) causative agent, Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola, has already been reported in the island. Although opportunistic fungal pathogens are capable of precipitating mycoses, the ophidiomycosis threatens both, endemic and invasive species health and vitality. Invasive snake species, like Boa constrictor, play an important epidemiological role by facilitating the propagation of fungal diseases due to its direct competition with endemic species. In previous efforts to describe the fungal flora of the Boa constrictor skin in Puerto Rico, researchers managed to isolate 12 mycelial fungi which were identified using morphological macro and microscopic characteristics. The objective of this study is to identify the fungal isolates recovered from sampled skin of the invasive Boa constrictor using molecular data. Sequencing of rDNA genes (ITS and 5.8S) will allow further characterization and taxonomy identification of the isolates. The successful DNA extraction has allowed the amplification of the fungi, and the combination of primers from different rDNA genes and PCR protocol is under revision for the upcoming bioinformatic analysis. Our preliminary results indicate that our isolates belong in the genera Aspergillus, Syncephalastrum, Phoma, Cladosporium, Penicillium, Nigrospora and Pestalotia.

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