Isolation of Thermophilic Fungi from Alligator Nesting Material

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Abstract
SUMMARY Thermophilic fungi isolated from partially decomposed vegetation from the interior of a recently used alligator (Alligator mississipiensis) nest included Chaetomium thermophile var. coprophile Cooney & Emerson, C. thermophile var. dissitum Cooney & Emerson, Humicola lanuginosa (Griffon & Maublanc) Bunce, Talaromyces thermophilus Stolk, and Thermoascus aurantiacus Miehe sensu Apinis. The thermotolerant fungi Aspergillus fumigatus Fresenius and Burgoa-Papulaspora sp. were also isolated. The ontogeny of bulbils of the latter isolate is described. Alligator nesting material provides a habitat suitable for the thermophilic fungi, where the heat required for growth of these fungi is not provided by the body heat of the nest builder. These data suggest that habitats suitable for the origin and evolutionary survival of obligately thermophilic fungi have existed for long periods of time.