Isolation and identification of thermotolerant and thermophilic fungi from soil and compost in Kermanshah province (West of Iran)

An investigation was carried out on the occurrence of thermotolerantand thermophilic fungi in 11 soil samples collected from cultivated and natural regions in Kermanshah province (Mahidasht, Harsin, Kerend, Eslamabad-e Gharb, Qasr-e Shirin, Sarpol-e Zahab, Javanrood, Gilan-e Gharb), municipal waste compost and mushroom compost, 2017–19. Fungal isolates were recovered using the soil dilution plate method on potato dextrose agar at 45 and 50 °C. Totally, 24 isolates were obtained that were primarily identified using morphological characters and referring to valid taxonomic keys. DNA extraction was carried out using a Genomic DNA Purification kit. The ITS region (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2) of the ribosomal DNA was amplified using ITS1 and ITS4 primers. Fragments about 500–700 bp were amplified after sequencing deposited in GenBank. Based on morphological characters and sequence data of the ITS rDNA, these fungi were identified as: Aspergillus fumigatus, A. nidulans, A. niger, A. terrus, Melanocarpus albomyces*, Malbranchea cinnamomea*, Thermomyces dupontii*, Th. lanuginosus*, and Thielavia arenaria*. Asterisks indicate species that are new records for the mycobiota of Iran. The abundance of thermophilic fungi in municipal waste compost was higher than soil, and Aspergillus species were the most abundant fungi identified in this study.