Fungi Isolated In Culture From Soils of the Sonoran Desert

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Abstract
SUMMARY Samples were taken from the top 2 inches, including the surface, of virgin soils from 24 localities in the Sonoran Desert. There were 107 genera and 229 species isolated in addition to some unidentified Phoma spp., mycelia with clamp connections, and large numbers of other sterile mycelia. No thermophiles were isolated. There does not seem to be a fungus flora that is characteristic of desert soils. The melanic Fungi Imperfecti occurred in large numbers, though not necessarily in greater numbers of species than non-melanic forms. Many of the isolated species are pan-world. The soil contained many species more commonly associated with dung, others known to be plant or animal pathogens and others as laboratory contaminants. Many of the species may not be true soil fungi and their presence in the soil simply fortuitous.