Metabolically active eukaryotic communities in extremely acidic mine drainage

Characterization of the diversity of filamentous fungi and protists in the Richmond Mine at Iron Mountain, Calif by utilizing both beta-tubulin and 18S rRNA gene sequence phylogenetic analyses is reported. The development of 18S rRNA fungal probes helped in identifying and studying the distribution of lineages of morphologically indistinguishable fungi in environmental samples. Three isolates with 18s rRNA genes that are closely related to the Dothideomycetes clones were obtained and the name 'Acidomyces richmondensis' is suggested for the isolates on the basis of their genus-level phylogenetic divergence and environmental adaptation.