2 new fungi discovered at Lake Urmia, Meighan

TEHRAN, Oct. 18 (MNA) – Researchers at Iranian Biological Research Center have discovered two new microorganisms at hypersaline lakes of Urmia and Meighan. Urmia Lake has been for years fighting against the peril of disappearing completely due to a drought of epic proportions, and efforts continue to save this unique lake from dying. The genetic and biological resources of this lake are unreplaceable and researchers at Iranian Biological Research Center have concentrated their efforts on stressing the high significance of these ecosystems. Their efforts have recently led to the discovery of two new fungi with scientific names of Emericellopsis persica and Purpureocillium sodanum. Seyed Abolhassan Shahzadeh Fazeli, the director of Iranian Biological Research Center, said “the discovery of these two fungi at Lake Urmia and Meighan salt lake highlights the importance of ecology and biodiversity of these areas.” “These fungi have a significant potential for lipolytic activities and offer fascinating topics for extensive studies on genomics, transcriptome, proteomics, and metablolomics,” he added. According to him, Iranian researchers had previously discovered for the first time a type of fungus named Neocamarosporium chichastianum in Lake Urmia in 2014, thus Emericellopsis persica is the second native fungus species of Lake Urmia.