ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Aquatic Microbiology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1477445
Environmental Drivers of Fungal Community Structure: A Comparative High-Throughput Sequencing Study of Two Geothermally Distinct Hot Springs in Hefei, China
Provisionally accepted
- Chaohu University, Chaohu, Anhui Province, China
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This study represents the first comprehensive analysis of fungal diversity in two geothermally distinct hot springs (Tangchi and Bantang) in Hefei, China, using Illumina MiSeq PE300 sequencing of the ITS region. Despite their spatial proximity, Tangchi (63.9℃, pH 8.2) and Bantang (45.8℃, pH 6.5) showed stark contrasts in fungal community composition. A total of 934 OTUs were identified, with Tangchi exhibiting greater α-diversity and only 18.6% OTU overlap.Both systems were dominated by Ascomycota and Basidiomycota, yet genus-level divergences were substantial: Tangchi favored Rhizophydium, Aureobasidium and Rhodotorula, while Bantang harbored Coniosporium, Trichomerium and Aureobasidium. Comparative analysis with freshwater ecosystems revealed unique thermoadaptive strategies and reduced overlap with non-thermal fungal assemblages. These findings emphasize temperature and pH as critical drivers of fungal niche partitioning in geothermal systems and underscore the untapped biotechnological potential of thermophilic fungi.
Keywords: Fungal community structure, Environmental drivers, high-throughput sequencing, Bantang hot spring, Tangchi hot spring
Received: 07 Aug 2024; Accepted: 23 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Feng - Qin Zhang, Chaohu University, Chaohu, 238024, Anhui Province, China
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