Degradation of Laminaria saccharina by Saprobic Fungi

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Abstract
Eighteen fungi were found on stipe tissue of attached and detached L. saccharina. Healthy stipes and others infected by Phycomelaina laminariae were placed in separated mesh bags, suspended in the water column and examined at 3 mo. intervals for 9 mo. The species included an oomycete, Petersenia sp. or Atkinsiella sp., a parasite or the ascomata of Phycomelaina laminariae, Bartalinia robillardoides, a coelomycete new to North America and not previously observed from a marine substratum, Zalerion maritimum, a common marine saprobe not previously described from an algal substratum and Dendrypheilla salina, the most common fungal invader of macro-algae. The C level of detached, suspended stipe tissue increased during the first 6 mo. in infected tissues; the levels in healthy (uninfected) tissues decreased in the first 3 mo. interval and increased during the second 3 mo. C levels decreased in infected and healthy detrital tissues during the last 3 mo. period. N increased in infected and healthy detrital tissues during the first 6 mo. but decreased during the last 3 mo. period.