Abstract

Various arenicolous fungal species have been detected from the beach sand in the coastal area. However, little has been revealed regarding their distribution and dynamics. To investigate the overall diversity of marine arenicolous fungi (MAFs) in Korea and whether the composition of MAFs is affected by ocean currents, we isolated and analyzed the fungal community from the western, southern, and eastern seasides of the Korean Peninsula. In total, 603 strains were isolated and identified as 259 species based on appropriate molecular markers for each genus (ITS, BenA, CaM, tef1, and act). The composition of MAFs showed differences among the seasides. Our results indicate that many MAFs inhabit the beach sand on the Korean Peninsula, and the composition of MAFs is also affected by ocean currents flowing along each coast.

• Keywords: 16S rRNA gene sequencing;dry eye;meibomian gland dysfunction;ocular surface bacteria