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We surveyed the diversity of cultivable fungi isolated from cold and hot volcanic soils of Deception Island, Antarctica. Seventy-four fungal isolates were identified; these belonged to 17 taxa in the genera Aspergillus, Penicillium, Pseudogymnoascus, Purpureocillium, and Mortierella. The fungal assemblages showed low diversity, richness, and dominance indices. The Aspergillus taxa were dominant in the soils at 0 °C, 50 °C, and 100 °C. Aspergillus lacticoffeatus, Aspergillus cf. ruber, Penicillium citrinun, and Purpureocillium sodanum were present only in soils having a temperature of 100 °C. Aspergillus calidoustus was present in all thermal soils and displayed the highest densities. The majority of fungi displayed mesophilic behavior; however, different isolates of Aspergillus lacticoffeatus and Aspergillus niger were able to grow at 50 °C; these are phylogenetically close to the causative agents of aspergillosis in immunocompromised individuals. Deception Island perhaps represents one of the most visited regions in Antarctica and the tourism there has increased over the last 20 years, especially by elderly tourists, probably with weak immune systems, come in contact with the resident microorganisms, including the thermo-resistant opportunistic Aspergillus species.

Fungi are cosmopolitan organisms capable of colonising different types of soils in different ecosystems of the planet. Soils represent the main source of isolation of fungi studied in Antarctica, in which different species ranging from endemic to cosmopolitan species adapted to the cold are found. Despite the extreme conditions, different types of soils occur in Antarctica, such as those present in the Antarctic Peninsula, as well as those characterised as ultraligotrophic in continental Antarctica. These soils vary in their physicochemical characteristics such as the presence of organic matter with varying concentrations of carbon, nitrogen, and minerals. In recent years, some fungal communities have been characterised in the soils of different regions of Antarctica, such as morainic, sulphur-rich, thermal, ornithogenic, oligotrophic, and ultraoligotrophic soils. Owing to their high genetic, biochemical, and physiological plasticity, fungi are able to survive, colonise, and disperse in different types of Antarctic soils and act in different ways in the region. Their main ecological functions are decomposition and nutrient cycling in extreme environments such as those in Antarctica. This chapter aims to present the current picture of the diversity of fungi present in the different types of Antarctic soils, their possible functions and ecological relations, as well as their potential in possible biotechnological applications.

understanding eukaryotic survival in cold-arid oligotrophic soils. We hypothesize that detailed further investigations may provide a greater understanding of the evolution of Antarctic fungi and their relationships with other organisms described in that region. Additionally, different wild pristine bioactive fungal isolates found in continental Antarctic soil may represent a unique source to discover prototype mol- ecules for use in drug and biopesticide discovery studies. Abstract We surveyed the diversity and capability of producing bioactive compounds from a cultivable fungal community isolated from oligotrophic soil of continen- tal Antarctica. A total of 115 fungal isolates were obtained and identified in 11 taxa of Aspergillus, Debaryomyces, Cladosporium, Pseudogymnoascus, Penicillium and Hypo- creales. The fungal community showed low diversity and richness, and high dominance indices. The extracts of Aspergillus sydowii, Penicillium allii-sativi, Penicillium brevicompactum, Penicillium chrysogenum and Penicil- lium rubens possess antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal, antitumoral, herbicidal and antiprotozoal activities. Bioac- tive extracts were examined using 1 H NMR spectroscopy and detected the presence of secondary metabolites with chemical shifts. Our results show that the fungi present in cold-oligotrophic soil from Antarctica included few domi- nant species, which may have important implications for