石生真菌研究现状与展望

石生真菌是一类生长在裸露岩石上形成紧凑暗色菌落的特殊生命, 在自然界未发现其有性生殖结构, 它们具有丰富的物种多样性。石生真菌是地球上最具耐受力的一种真核生命, 具有独特的适应性, 并进化出各种适应机制以占据严酷的生态位, 它们在细胞结构、代谢方式、抗逆机制等方面具有特殊性。尽管石生真菌很常见,但由于其体积小、生长缓慢并且缺乏明显的形态特征而常常被人们忽视。本文在介绍石生真菌的多样性、研究方法和研究历史的基础上, 重点介绍石生真菌的逆境耐受性和抗逆机制以及石生真菌的应用研究。以期能引起科学工作者对这类特殊生境里的真菌研究的重视, 更好地理解这类真菌在地球上的重要作用。

Research status and prospects of rock-inhabiting fungi

Rock-inhabiting fungi (RIF) are peculiar organisms with high diversity that apparently lack sexual reproductive structures and form compact, melanised colonies on bare rock surfaces. These fungi are one of the most stress-tolerant eukaryotic life forms on the earth and have evolved a variety of adaptive mechanisms to occupy harsh niches. They also have special characteristics related to their cell structure, metabolism, and stress tolerance mechanisms. Although RIF are very ubiquitous, they have often been overlooked due to their small size, slow growth and lack of diagnostic features. In this review, we describe the diversity, research approaches, history, adaptive mechanism and applied research of rock-inhabiting fungi, to focus attention on RIF and their importance.