The deep-sea is one of the most mysterious and unexplored extreme environments, holding
great potential and interest for science. Despite extensive studies on deep-sea prokaryotes,
the diversity of fungi, one of the most ecologically important groups of eukaryotic micro-
organisms, remains largely unknown. However, the presence of fungi in these ecosystems is
starting to be recognised. Many fungi have been isolated by culture-dependent methods
from various deep-sea environments, with the majority showing similarity to terrestrial …