Diversity Study of Basidiomycota in the Main Campus of Tunku Abdul Rahman University College (TARUC) by DNA-Based Modern Method and Classical Method

Hoe, Chu Kang (2022) Diversity Study of Basidiomycota in the Main Campus of Tunku Abdul Rahman University College (TARUC) by DNA-Based Modern Method and Classical Method. Final Year Project (Bachelor), Tunku Abdul Rahman University College.

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Abstract

Basidiomycota is one of the significant, diverse phyla of kingdom Fungi, with more than 35,000 described species classified as macro-fungi due to presence of fruiting bodies, and these members are known as Basidiomycetes. Although about 35,000 known Basidiomycota can be found globally, their diversity and community organisation have not yet been fully discovered. Thus, this project aims to study the diversity of Basidiomycota in TARUC, Kuala Lumpur main campus including the identification, isolation and characterisation of collected fruiting bodies, as their diversity is crucial to the ecosystem and human economy. To study the diversity, the collected fruiting bodies were first grown into GSM for purification followed by subculture on PDA to obtain pure culture. Once pure culture obtained, both classical and molecular method were used to identify the species of collected Basidiomycota. For classical method, the fruiting body’s morphology was observed for classification, and the macroscopic and microscopic characteristic of isolates were observed for further confirmation. The molecular method was carried out using DNA-based modern method including the DNA extraction and sequencing to study their gene. The species of collected Basidiomycota were identified based on their basidiocarp morphology. The collection and isolation processes during the duration of this project have shown that 13 types of fruiting bodies were collected and 9 of them successfully grew on GSM and pure culture with strain name RBCWC 02, RBCWC 03, RBCWC 04, BSAEC 01, BSAEC 02, BSAEC 03, BSAEC 05, BSAEC 06 and GHCPWC 01 was obtained. Results showed that Block SA East campus have the highest species richness followed by Red Brick Cafeteria West campus and Green House Car Park West campus. In conclusion, the macroscopic and microscopic identification are tentative identities as they might lead to a false result; therefore, the molecular method is said to be more effective for studying Basidiomycota diversity