Fungi from Chernobyl: mycobiota of the inner regions of the containment structures of the damaged nuclear reactor

Extensive fungal growth has been detected on the walls and other building c onstructions in the inner parts of the Shelter of the damaged fourth Unit o f the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in 1997-98. The mycobiota comprised 37 species of 19 genera. Zygomycetes and ascomycetes were represented by one s pecies each: Mucor plumbeus and Chactomium globosum, respectively. Two mito sporic fungi commonly found were Cladosporium sphaerospermum and Penicilliu m hirsutum. Alternaria alternata, Aureobasidium pullulans, Aspergillus vers icolor, Acremonium stritcum, and Cladosporium herbarum were also encountere d. Penicillium ingelheimense, Phialophora melinii, Doratomyces stemonitis a nd Sydowia polyspora were isolated from the Shelter and are recorded from t he Ukraine for the first time. Comparison of the species growing under both severe and relatively weak radioactive contamination revealed a dominance of melanin-containing species in heavily contaminated sites; biodiversity a nd prevalence coefficients supported this.