RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 90, NO. 10, 25 MAY 2006 1388 *For correspondence. (e-mail: smsingh@ncaor.org) 12. Sharma, M. and Vij, S. P., Embryological studies in Orchidaceae, VI: Habenaria Willd. Phytomorphology, 1986, 37, 327–335. 13. Sood, S. K., Occurrence of uninucleate tapetal cells in diandrous orchid Cypripedium cordigerum Don (Orchidaceae). Ind. Bot. Cont., 1985, 2, 65–66. 14. Vij, S. P. and Sharma, M., Embryological studies in Orchidaceae, V: Epipactis Adam. Phytomorphology, 1987, 37, 81–86. 15. Sood, S. K. and Sham, N., Gametophytes, embryology and pericarp of Rhynchostylis retusa Bl. (Epidendreae, Orchidaceae). Phyto- morphology, 1987, 34, 307–316. 16. Karanth, A., Bhat, P. K. and Govindappa, D. A., Tapetum-like epidermis in Zeuxine longilabris (Lindl.) Benth. ex Hk., Orchida- ceae. Curr. Sci., 1979, 48, 542–543. 17. Giugnard, L., Researches sur le development de I’anthere et di pollen des orchidees. Ann. Sci. Nat., 1882, 14, 26–45. 18. Konta, F. and Tsuji, M., The types of pollen tetrads and their for- mation observed in some species in Orchidaceae in Japan. Acta Phytotaxon. Barcinonensia, 1982, 33, 327–336. 19. Freudenstein, J. V., Harris, E. M. and Rasmussen, H., The evolu- tion of anther morphology in orchids: incumbent anthers, superpo- sed pollinia and the vandoid complex. Am. J. Bot., 2002, 89, 1747–1755. Received 19 November 2004; revised accepted 30 January 2006 Psychrophilic fungi from Schirmacher Oasis, East Antarctica S. M. Singh 1, *, G. Puja 2 and D. J. Bhat 2 1 National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research, Headland Sada, Vasco-Da-Gama, Goa 403 804, India 2 Department of Botany, Goa University, Goa 403 206, India This communication presents results of a preliminary study on the fungal biodiversity of soils of Schirmacher Oasis, East Antarctica. Using 2% malt extract agar medium, serial dilution method was followed to re- cover the fungi in culture from the soil samples. Fungal colonies were visible in culture plates only when main- tained at 2–5°C for up to 45 days. Several taxa of fungi were recovered. Keywords: Psychrophilic fungi, Schirmacher Oasis, soils, serial dilution method. PSYCHROPHILES thrive at very low temperatures. These include organisms living in deep sea (–1 to 4°C), Arctic and Antarctic (–1 to –35°C during wintertime), and glacial ice habitats (–5°C). Little is known on the biodiversity of such habitats, especially microfungal diversity. A few re- ported organisms from these habitats are gaining popular- ity in recent years with the advent of genomics and proteonomics 1–3 . Further, some of these, especially fungi and bacteria, are now known to produce unique enzymes and secondary metabolites of immense biotechnological potential. The physiological and ecological mechanisms that help fungi to overcome and survive cold environmental condi- tions are well explained by Robinson 4 . He indicated that there is a predominance of sterile mycelia in the Antarctic soils and this could be a physiological adaptation to overcome the harshness of sub-zero temperatures. He also attributed the production of melanin by these fungi as a protective mechanism for survival under extreme temperatures. Antarctica is a continent located at the South Pole. Bar- ring 2% of the area, thick sheets of ice cover the remain- ing parts. Only a few species of fungi and bacteria have been described from the region in the recent past, most of them being from the marine environment, i.e. sea water and sea ice. Little investigation has been carried out on soil microorganisms of ice-free areas. Studies of Nichols et al. 5 resulted in the recovery of 769 strains of Actinobac- teria from the Antarctica. They suggested that the terres- trial environments of the region are a rich source of novel and rare genera. They also studied at molecular level, the total microbial diversity of the polar and deep-sea envi- ronment. India has established a permanent research station, Maitri at Schirmacher Oasis, East Antarctica and launched a series of scientific expeditions since 1981. Earlier studies sug- gested that life at Schirmacher Oasis is dominated by li- chens 6 , mosses 7 and algae 8,9 . Studies on bacteria and yeast were conducted by Shivaji 10 . Effect of temperature on bacterial populations was observed by Matondkar 11 . Micro- faunal studies of the region were carried out by Ingole and Parulekar 12 . Sharma 13 reported nine species of fungi from the Ant- arctica region. These include Arthrobotrys ferox on moss, Torulopsis psychrophila and Phoma herbarum on bird excreta, P. herbarum on skeletal remains, Acremonium antarcticum and A. psychrophilum on lichens and species of Torulopsis, Psychrophila and Cryptococcus on ornitho- genic soils. Besides, a few alien species of fungi, viz. Hormoconis resinae on oil spills and species of Dacry- myces and Exidia on wooden debris have also been repor- ted by Sharma 13 . Some of the tropical saprophytic fungi, viz. Chaetomium globosum, Stemphylium sp., Curvularia lunata, Memnoniella echinata, Aureobasidium pullulans, Aspergillus niger, Paecilomyces varioti, Penicillium funi- culosum and Cladosporium sp., were exposed to Antarctic environment for a period of 14 months by Dayal et al. 14 , in order to study their viability, growth rate and virulence, but no major variation in activity was observed. In subse- quent years, steady increase in summer temperatures and concomitant glaciological changes resulted in further ex- posure of soils in Antarctica and warranted continued studies on the life of the region. The authors had an opportunity to examine the fungal diversity of soils of Schirmacher Oasis based on samples collected during a recent expedition by one of the authors.