INCIDENCE AND DIVERSITY SPECTRUM OF MITOSPORIC FUNGI FROM THE COLD ARID BASE SOIL OF MOONLAND LANDSCAPE (LADAKH), INDIA.

10.22376/ijpbs.2019.10.1.p1-12

Volume 6 Issue 1 2015 (January - March) INCIDENCE AND DIVERSITY SPECTRUM OF MITOSPORIC FUNGI FROM THE COLD ARID BASE SOIL OF MOONLAND LANDSCAPE (LADAKH), INDIA. The cold deserts of Ladakh region present extreme environmental challenges for microorganisms in the form of subzero temperatures due to prolonged snow cover, lack of appropriate moisture during summers, high altitude and high UV radiations. In view of these prevailing conditions, a study was undertaken to assess the diversity of mitosporic fungi found in the cold arid base soil of Moonland landscape, Ladakh (J&K). This was done by using dilution plate technique and modified Czapek Dox Agar medium (CDA). A total of 32 fungal species belonging to 14 genera were recovered from the four sites of sampling and majorities (64%) of them were found to be melanized. The fungal species of common occurrence included lessThan i greaterThan Alternaria alternata, lessThan /i greaterThan lessThan i greaterThan Aspergillus flavus lessThan /i greaterThan , lessThan i greaterThan A. fumigatus lessThan /i greaterThan , lessThan i greaterThan A. ochraceous lessThan /i greaterThan lessThan i greaterThan A. sydowii lessThan /i greaterThan , lessThan i greaterThan A. niger lessThan /i greaterThan , lessThan i greaterThan Cladosporium cladosporiodes, C. sphaerospermum, C.oxysporum, Penicillium griseofulvum, P. olivicolor, P. italicum, P. verrucosum lessThan /i greaterThan and lessThan i greaterThan Ulocladium atrum lessThan /i greaterThan . Diversity indices viz., species richness ( lessThan i greaterThan S lessThan /i greaterThan ), Shannon-Wiener's diversity index ( lessThan i greaterThan H' lessThan /i greaterThan ) and Simpson Dominance index ( lessThan i greaterThan Cd lessThan /i greaterThan ) were also considered. Their values for ( lessThan i greaterThan H' lessThan /i greaterThan ) and ( lessThan i greaterThan Cd lessThan /i greaterThan ) did not differ significantly in the investigated four sites but ( lessThan i greaterThan S lessThan /i greaterThan ) values varied with the sites. SKARMA NONZOM AND GEETA SUMBALI Cold Desert; Ladakh; Mitosporic fungi; Moonland landscape. 252-261