Data from: Fungal communities in Scandinavian lakes along a longitudinal gradient

This study investigates the diversity and distribution of fungal
communities in 77 oligotrophic lakes in southern Norway and Sweden using
454-sequencing with fungal-specific primers targeting ITS2 region of the
rRNA gene. A total of 232 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) belonging to
four recognized phyla were detected. A large proportion (70.69%) of the
detected OTUs were Dikarya (Ascomycota and Basidiomycota), while
Chytridiomycota dominated quantitatively (63.37% reads). The most abundant
aquatic fungi were taxonomically assigned to Chytridiomycota, whose
members are known to be saprobes on a large variety of substrates and
parasites of phytoplankton, zooplankton, fungi and invertebrates,
suggesting that resident fungi strictly depend on surfaces and, therefore,
are closely associated with other types of aquatic organisms. Our results
indicate that surface waters of oligotrophic lakes harbour a diverse pool
of fungi, both with tentative terrestrial and true aquatic origin.
Longitude and environmental factors were important in structuring the
fungal community composition.