New species of fungus named after Orumiyeh Lake

EghtesadOnline: The first native fungus species belonging to the family of string Pleosporaceae has been named as Chichast, the old Persian name of Orumiyeh Lake, an official said on Monday.

News ID: ۷۷۲۸۳۸

02 January 2017

Head of National Center of Genetics and Biological Reserves of Iran Abolhassan Shahzadeh Fazeli underscored that Orumiyeh Lake is one of the biggest wildlife habitat in the country that has been severely affected by drought.

In order to protect the country's biological and genetic resources, Shahzadeh Fazeli said, a new species of fungus coelomycete, which was identified and segregated from Orumiyeh Lake, has been named as Chichast, IRNA reported.

He added Neocamarosporium chichastianum species belongs to the family of Pleosporaceae which have not been studied much so far.

Orumiyeh Lake located between the provinces of East Azarbaijan and West Azarbaijan, a saltwater lake, one of the largest on the planet, is on the brink of a major environmental disaster due to its highly endangered ecosystem.