1. Supplementary material: microbiome analysis of groundwaters in the Slovenian Dinaric Karst, a recognized biodiversity hotspot : version v1Katarina Bačnik, Cene Gostinčar, Rok Kostanjšek, Janez Mulec, Monika Novak Babič, Ion Gutiérrez-Aguirre, Nina Gunde-Cimerman, Martina Turk, Denis Kutnjak, 2026, zaključena znanstvena zbirka raziskovalnih podatkov Ključne besede: Karst cave waters, high-throughput sequencing, viruses, archaea, bacteria, fungi, protozoa Objavljeno v DiRROS: 24.03.2026; Ogledov: 216; Prenosov: 249
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2. Microbiome analysis of groundwaters in the Slovenian Dinaric Karst, a recognized biodiversity hotspotKatarina Bačnik, Denis Kutnjak, Cene Gostinčar, Rok Kostanjšek, Janez Mulec, Monika Novak Babič, Ion Gutiérrez-Aguirre, Nina Gunde-Cimerman, Martina Turk, 2026, izvirni znanstveni članek Povzetek: Groundwater is the most important source of drinking water supply, irrigation, and industrial use, as well as a habitat for a diverse range of (micro)organisms. Some of the first studies of underground environments were carried out in the Dinaric Karst region of Slovenia, which harbors one of the highest subterranean biodiversities in the world. Despite their ecological importance, groundwater microbial communities remain underexplored. In this study, we conducted a comprehensive microbiome analysis of karst groundwater, investigating the abundance and diversity of viruses, archaea, bacteria, fungi, and protozoa. We detected a high diversity of both prokaryote- and eukaryote-infecting viruses, indicating the connection of subterranean environments with surface waters. In the archaeal community, seven different phyla were identified, dominated by members of "Candidatus Woesearchaeota" and Nitrososphaerota (syn. Thermoproteota). In the bacterial community of majority of the samples, the Pseudomonadota was the most abundant phylum, followed by Bacteroidota, Actinomycetota, and Verrucomicrobiota. Fungal abundance and diversity differed greatly between cave water samples, with the Ascomycota families Cladosporiaceae, Didymellaceae, Aspergillaceae and saprotrophic Basidiomycota detected in all samples. Besides fungi, microscopic eukaryotic diversity consisted of ciliates, copepods and golden-brown algae present in all samples. Differences in microbial communities between the sampling sites highlight the need for tailored site-specific groundwater conservation and monitoring strategies. Moreover, the identification of microbes associated with anthropogenic activities underscores their potential as source-specific indicators of groundwater pollution. As the first holistic overview of microbial diversity of subterranean water, the study establishes a valuable baseline for future research and conservation of these unique karst ecosystems. Ključne besede: Karst cave water, high-throughput sequencing, viruses, archaea, bacteria, fungi, protozoa Objavljeno v DiRROS: 02.03.2026; Ogledov: 326; Prenosov: 204
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3. Innovative solutions for valorization of desalination brineAna Rotter, Baruch Rinkevich, Irem Deniz, Maggie M. Reddy, Mariana Girão, Maria F. Carvalho, Nina Gunde-Cimerman, Cene Gostinčar, Mercedes Cueto, Ernesta Grigalionyte-Bembič, 2025, izvirni znanstveni članek Povzetek: Desalination is becoming increasingly important to meet the growing demand for freshwater. However, a major drawback of this technology is the production of hypersaline brine. This by-product contains salts and contaminants that have been removed during the desalination process, including antiscalants, cleaning agents, heavy metals, and organic compounds. Instead of disposing of this brine and causing environmental harm, new strategies should be developed to transform brine from a burden into an opportunity with environmental and economic benefits. Brine can harbor halotolerant and halophilic microorganisms, making it a valuable resource for studying microbial diversity, adaptations and exploring untapped biotechnological opportunities in pharmaceutical, industrial, and ecological fields. We propose two strategies of innovation: (i) using brine to cultivate micro- and macro-organisms, both of which can create circular economy models tailored to global and local needs. (ii) In addition, the amount of brine generated by desalination plants can be reduced by integrating or coupling them with biodesalination modules. These modules would harness halotolerant and halophilic organisms to retain and assimilate salts, reducing the environmental impact of desalination. Ključne besede: desalination, brine, environmental impact, circular economy, biotechnology Objavljeno v DiRROS: 08.09.2025; Ogledov: 630; Prenosov: 325
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4. Characterization of Aureobasidium pullulans isolates selected as biocontrol agents against fruit decay pathogensJanja Zajc Žunič, Anja Černoša, Alessandra Di Francesco, Raffaello Castoria, Filippo De Curtis, Giuseppe Lima, Hanene Badri, Haissam Jijakli, Antonio Ippolito, Cene Gostinčar, Polona Zalar, Nina Gunde-Cimerman, Wojciech J. Janisiewicz, 2020, izvirni znanstveni članek Povzetek: The "yeast-like" fungus, Aureobasidium pullulans, isolated from fruit and leaves exhibits strong biocontrol activity against postharvest decays on various fruit. Some strains were even developed into commercial products. We obtained 20 of these strains and investigated their characteristics related to biocontrol. Phylogenetic analyses based on internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and the D1/D2 domains of rRNA 28S gene regions confirmed that all the strains are most closely related to A. pullulans species. All strains grew at 0°C, which is very important to control decay at low storage temperature, and none grew at 37°C, which eliminates concern for human safety. Eighteen strains survived 2 hrs exposures to 50°C and two strains even survived for 24 hrs. Salt-tolerance varied; however, all strains grew on medium with 14% NaCl and 14 even with 18% NaCl. Such tolerances to high temperature and elevated salinity enable compatibility with postharvest practices. Substantial differences were observed in enzymatic activity, especially with respect to production of chitinases, xylanase, or urease. Siderophore production was detected and the ability to form biofilm varied widely between the strains. Knowledge of common characteristics of these strains may be very useful in future selection of the best antagonists within this species. Ključne besede: biological control, postharvest disease management, antagonism, physiological variability, stress tolerance Objavljeno v DiRROS: 04.03.2025; Ogledov: 945; Prenosov: 543
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5. The genus Wallemia - from contamination of food to health threatJanja Zajc Žunič, Nina Gunde-Cimerman, 2018, pregledni znanstveni članek Povzetek: The fungal genus Wallemia of the order Wallemiales (Wallemiomycotina, Basidiomycota) comprises the most xerotolerant, xerophilic and also halophilic species worldwide. Wallemia spp. are found in various osmotically challenged environments, such as dry, salted, or highly sugared foods, dry feed, hypersaline waters of solar salterns, salt crystals, indoor and outdoor air, and agriculture aerosols. Recently, eight species were recognized for the genus Wallemia, among which four are commonly associated with foods: W. sebi, W. mellicola, W. muriae and W. ichthyophaga. To date, only strains of W. sebi, W. mellicola and W. muriae have been reported to be related to human health problems, as either allergological conditions (e.g., farmer’s lung disease) or rare subcutaneous/cutaneous infections. Therefore, this allergological and infective potential, together with the toxins that the majority of Wallemia spp. produce even under saline conditions, defines these fungi as filamentous food-borne pathogenic fungi. Ključne besede: food, air, pathogen, xerophile, halophile, mycotoxin, farmerʼs lung disease, subcutaneous infection Objavljeno v DiRROS: 06.08.2024; Ogledov: 1132; Prenosov: 1074
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6. Insertion of a specific fungal 3'-phosphoadenosine-5'-phosphatase motif into a plant homologue improves halotoleranceand drought tolerance of plantsMeti Buh Gašparič, Metka Lenassi, Cene Gostinčar, Ana Rotter, Ana Plemenitaš, Nina Gunde-Cimerman, Kristina Gruden, Jana Žel, 2013, izvirni znanstveni članek Povzetek: Soil salinity and drought are among the most serious agricultural and environmental problems of today. Therefore, investigations of plant resistance to abiotic stress have received a lot of attention in recent years. In this study, we identified the complete coding sequence of a 3′-phosphoadenosine-5′-phosphatase protein, ApHal2, from the halotolerant yeast Aureobasidium pullulans. Expression of the ApHAL2 gene in a Saccharomyces cerevisiae hal2 mutant complemented the mutant auxotrophy for methionine, and rescued the growth of the hal2 mutant in media with high NaCl concentrations. A 21-amino-acids-long region of the ApHal2 enzyme was inserted into the Arabidopsis thaliana homologue of Hal2, the SAL1 phosphatase. The inserted sequence included the META motif, which has previously been implicated in increased sodium tolerance of the Hal2 homologue from a related fungal species. Transgenic Arabidopsis plants overexpressing this modified SAL1 (mSAL1) showed improved halotolerance and drought tolerance. In a medium with an elevated salt concentration, mSAL1-expressing plants were twice as likely to have roots in a higher length category in comparison with the wild-type Arabidopsis and with plants overexpressing the native SAL1, and had 5% to 10% larger leaf surface area under moderate and severe salt stress, respectively. Similarly, after moderate drought exposure, the mSAL1-expressing plants showed 14% increased dry weight after revitalisation, with no increase in dry weight of the wild-type plants. With severe drought, plants overexpressing native SAL1 had the worst rehydration success, consistent with the recently proposed role of SAL1 in severe drought. This was not observed for plants expressing mSAL1. Therefore, the presence of this fungal META motif sequence is beneficial under conditions of increased salinity and moderate drought, and shows no drawbacks for plant survival under severe drought. This demonstrates that adaptations of extremotolerant fungi should be considered as a valuable resource for improving stress-tolerance in plant breeding in the future. Ključne besede: soil salinity and drought, plant resistance, abiotic stress Objavljeno v DiRROS: 02.08.2024; Ogledov: 1257; Prenosov: 1082
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7. Stress tolerance of three opportunistic black yeastsJanja Zajc Žunič, Cene Gostinčar, Metka Lenassi, Nina Gunde-Cimerman, 2018, izvirni znanstveni članek Povzetek: Many species of black yeasts can survive extremely harsh conditions and can quickly adapt to novel environments. These traits were proposed to have a role in the ability of some fungal species tocolonise indoor habitats inhospitable for majority of microorganisms, and to cause (opportunistic)infections in humans. In order to better understand the stress tolerance of black yeasts and thereby their opportunism, we focused our research on the three model black yeasts: the polyextremotolerant Au-reobasidium melanogenum and Exophiala dermatitidis, and the extremely halotolerant Hortaeawerneckii. These black yeasts are shown to thrive at temperatures, salinities, pH values and, H2O2 concentrations that inhibit growth of mesophilic species. Most importantly, unlike their close relatives they can not only grow, but also synthesize siderophores (E. dermatitidis) or degradeproteins (A. melanogenum) at 37 °C - traits that are crucial for pathogenesis in humans. These results support the hypothesis that the ability to cope with various environmental stresses is linked to the opportunistic behaviour of fungi. Therefore, better understanding of the connections between the stress-tolerant biology of black fungi and their ability to cause disease is needed, in particular due to their changing interactions with humans and their emerging pathogenicity.
Ključne besede: melanised fungi, temperature, NaCl, pH tolerance, ROS, oligotrophism, proteolytic activity, capsule Objavljeno v DiRROS: 01.08.2024; Ogledov: 1254; Prenosov: 654
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8. High-quality genome sequence of the radioresistant bacterium Deinococcus ficus KS 0460Vera Y. Matrosova, Elena K. Gaidamakova, Kira S. Makarova, Olga Grichenko, Polina Klimenkova, Robert P. Volpe, Rok Tkavc, Gözen Ertem, Isabel H. Conze, Evelyne Brambilla, Nina Gunde-Cimerman, Tine Grebenc, Cene Gostinčar, 2017, izvirni znanstveni članek Povzetek: The genetic platforms of Deinococcus species remain the only systems in which massive ionizing radiation (IR)-induced genome damage can be investigated in vivo at exposures commensurate with cellular survival. We report the whole genome sequence of the extremely IR-resistant rod-shaped bacterium Deinococcus ficus KS 0460 and its phenotypic characterization. Deinococcus ficus KS 0460 has been studied since 1987, first under the name Deinobacter grandis, then Deinococcus grandis. The D. ficus KS 0460 genome consists of a 4.019 Mbp sequence (69.7% GC content and 3894 predicted genes) divided into six genome partitions, five of which are confirmed to be circular. Circularity was determined manually by mate pair linkage. Approximately 76% of the predicted proteins contained identifiable Pfam domains and 72% were assigned to COGs. Of all D. ficus KS 0460 proteins, 79% and 70% had homologues in Deinococcus radiodurans ATCC BAA-816 and Deinococcus geothermalis DSM 11300, respectively. The most striking differences between D. ficus KS 0460 and D. radiodurans BAA-816 identified by the comparison of the KEGG pathways were as follows: (i) D. ficus lacks nine enzymes of purine degradation present in D. radiodurans, and (ii) D. ficus contains eight enzymes involved in nitrogen metabolism, including nitrate and nitrite reductases, that D. radiodurans lacks. Moreover, genes previously considered to be important to IR resistance are missing in D. ficus KS 0460, namely, for the Mn-transporter nramp, and proteins DdrF, DdrJ and DdrK, all of which are also missing in Deinococcus deserti. Otherwise, D. ficus KS 0460 exemplifies the Deinococcus lineage. Ključne besede: Deinococcus-Thermus, Deinococcaceae, Deinococcus ficus, radiation-resistant, rod-shaped, phenotype characterization, genome analysis, phylogenetic analysis Objavljeno v DiRROS: 25.07.2024; Ogledov: 1332; Prenosov: 800
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9. Fungi between extremotolerance and opportunistic pathogenicity on humansCene Gostinčar, Janja Zajc Žunič, Metka Lenassi, Ana Plemenitaš, Sybren de Hoog, Abdullah M. S. Al-Hatmi, Nina Gunde-Cimerman, 2018, izvirni znanstveni članek Povzetek: Numerous agents of infections in humans and other mammals are found among fungi that are able to survive extreme environmental conditions and to quickly adapt to novel habitats. Nevertheless, the relationship between opportunistic potential and polyextremotolerance was not yet studied systematically in fungi. Here, the link between polyextremotol- erance and opportunistic pathogenicity is shown in a kingdom-wide phylogenetic analysis as a statistically significant co- occurrence of extremotolerance (e.g. osmotolerance and psychrotolerance) and opportunism at the level of fungal orders. In addition to extremotolerance, fungal opportunists share another characteristic%an apparent lack of specialised virulence traits. This is illustrated by a comparative genomic analysis of 20 dothideomycetous and eurotiomycetous black fungi. While the genomes of specialised fungal plant pathogens were significantly enriched in known virulence-associated genes that encode secreted proteases, carbohydrate active enzyme families, polyketide synthases, and non-ribosomal peptide synthetases, no such signatures were observed in human opportunists. Together the presented results have several implications. If infection of human hosts is a side effect of fungal stress tolerance and adaptability, the human body is most likely neither the preferred habitat of such species, nor important for their evolutionary success. This defines opportunism as opposed to pathogenicity, where infection is advantageous for the species% fitness. Since opportunists are generally incapable of the host-to-host transmission, any host-specific adaptations are likely to be lost with the resolution of the infection, explaining the observed lack of specialised virulence traits. In this scenario opportunistic infections should be seen as an evolutionary dead end and unlikely to lead to true pathogenicity. Ključne besede: fungi, pathogenicity, infections in humans Objavljeno v DiRROS: 24.07.2024; Ogledov: 1428; Prenosov: 4041
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10. Fifty Aureobasidium pullulans genomes reveal a recombining polyextremotolerant generalistCene Gostinčar, Martina Turk, Janja Zajc Žunič, Nina Gunde-Cimerman, 2019, izvirni znanstveni članek Povzetek: The black yeast Aureobasidium pullulans is a textbook example of a generalistic and ubiquitous fungus thriving in a wide variety of environments. To investigate whether A. pullulans is a true generalist, or alternatively, whether part of its versatility can be attributed to intraspecific specialization masked by cryptic diversification undetectable by traditional phylogenetic analyses, we sequenced and analysed the genomes of 50 strains of A. pullulans from different habitats and geographic locations. No population structure was observed in the sequenced strains. Decay of linkage disequilibrium over shorter physical distances (<100 bp) than in many sexually reproducing fungi indicates a high level of recombination in the species. A homothallic mating locus was found in all of the sequenced genomes. Aureobasidium pullulans appears to have a homogeneous population genetics structure, which is best explained by good dispersal and high levels of recombination. This means that A. pullulans is a true generalist that can inhabit different habitats without substantial specialization to any of these habitats at the genomic level. Furthermore, in the future, the high level of A. pullulans recombination can be exploited for the identification of genomic loci that are involved in the many biotechnologically useful traits of this black yeast. Ključne besede: black yeast, genome Objavljeno v DiRROS: 24.07.2024; Ogledov: 1044; Prenosov: 912
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