Myxomycetes Diversity of Batman Province and Hasankeyf District

This study was conducted on samples collected from 13 different localities in the province of Batman and Hasankeyf district between 2017-2019. The samples were consisted of various leaves, bark, decayed plant material and animal waste. All of the samples collected were cultured in moisture chamber technique to develop myxomycetes sporophore. In addition, myxomycetes were collected from natural area on materials. As a result of field and moist chamber collection, 33 taxa obtained and identified belonging to 5 ordo, 7 families and 12 genera and added to mycetozoa of Turkey. Research Article Article History Received : 15.05.2020 Accepted : 18.07.2020


INTRODUCTION
Myxogastria are expressed as plasmodial slime mold and simple eukaryotic creatures that reproduce by spores. They live mainly in wet and damp areas, on decaying vegetable or animal materials, on leaves and wood. In the vegetative stage, myxamoeba or myxoflagellates move. They do not have distinctive shapes and cell walls, are multi-core, one or more spore formations are observed (Everhart and Keller 2008).
The life cycle of myxomycetes is characterized by two different stages, vegetative and generative. In the vegetative phase, plasmodium occurs from the germinated spore, feeds, develops, sometimes with synchronized mitosis, it often turns into a large number of nuclei, spore and generative formation. In the generative phase, it turns into a structure similar to the sportive reproductive structures (fructification) of macrofungi. Identification of myxomycetes is based on the morphological features of these fructifications, which are completely fragile and small (usually less than 2 mm). There are many types of myxomycetes that can survive in very different habitats by showing a very cosmopolitan spread, as well as some species that can survive in specific habitats (Stephenson 2003).
The number of Myxomycetes defined in the world is about 1045 (Lado, 2005(Lado, -2021. Turkey is located between mild and subtropical climates and surrounded by sea on three sides. The extension of the mountains and the diversity of the landforms led to the emergence of different climate types. This situation also provide richness in terms of vegetation, fauna, mycota and myxobiota. Myxogastria reported number is 290 in Turkey Baba et al. 2021). There are limited studies only in provinces with some regions (Ocak and Hasenekoğlu, 2003;Yağız and Afyon, 2005;Ergül et al., 2005a;Ergül et al., 2005b;Ergül et al., 2016;Demirel et al., 2006). In this study, myxomycetes of Batman city center and Hasankeyf district (Turkey) were determined. This study considered as first in the Southeast Anatolia Region and in Batman.

MATERIAL and METHOD
Research Area: Batman is located in Southeast Anatolia Region of Turkey. The northern region and northeast of Batman are high with steep and mountainous, and the southern region is mountainous and rugged. Batman province is located in the north of the province of Muş, Diyarbakır is in the west, Bitlis and Siirt in the east and Mardin in the south of the city (Figure 1). It has an land size of 4.477 km 2 . Batman province is located between 41°10′-41°40′ East longitudes and 38°40′-37°50′ North latitudes. It has a altitude of 550 meters. Hasankeyf district belongs to Batman province. Its geographic location is 37°41′49″ North and 41°29′58″ East coordinates. Its land size is about 529 km 2 . The Dicle River, which gives life to the region, also affects the climate of the region. The river ensures that the winter are mild (Alaeddinoglu 2010).

Şekil 1. Araştırma Sahası
Terrestrial climate is generally dominant in Batman province and Hasankeyf district. The winter season in Batman is cool and rainy and the summer season is hot and dry. Rainfall is high in the form of snow and lowlands in the form of rain. The highest temperatures are experienced in the June-September period and the lowest temperatures in the December-March period. The average annual temperature of Batman is 25 °C, the highest average temperature is 43 °C, the lowest average temperature is between 6 °C. The average annual total precipitation is seen to be 487.5 mm for Batman. Provincial lands are covered with steppes and do not show richness in terms of vegetation. In high parts, there are forests mixed with oak (Quercus robur L.), juniper (Juniperus communis L.), plane-tree (Platanus orientalis L.) and wild peanut (Peanuts feram C.M. Schultz). At lower levels, steppe plants and river-sized, poplar (Populus sp.), and willow trees (Salix sp.) form natural vegetation (Alaeddinoglu 2010).
Collection and Identification of Samples: By field trips samples were collected from the different regions of Batman city center and Hasankeyf district, to cover the four seasons of the year during 2017-2019. In field studies, myxomycetes samples were collected with substrate. Tree shells, pieces, leaves, branches, cones, fruit residues such as leaves, branches, cones, fruit residues that do not contain sporophore but are considered to contain myxomycet spores were placed in locked storage bags. The Moist Chamber Culture Technique developed by Gilbert and Martin (1933) was used isolation and identification of the species. Field samples collected in the sporophore stage or obtained from the moist chamber technique were dried in room temperature by laying a two layer of blotter paper in petri dishes and turned into fungarium material (Baba and Tamer, 2007). Identification of myxomycetes were made using Martin and Alexopoulos (1969), Farr (1976), Thind (1977), Farr (1981), Martin et al (1983), Neubert et al (1993Neubert et al ( , 1995Neubert et al ( , 2000, Stephenson and Stempen (1994), Alexopoulos et al (1996)

RESULT and DISCUSSION
As a result of the field studies conducted around Batman city center and Hasankeyf district in the 2017-2019, a total of 33 species were identified belonging 5 ordo, 7 families and 12 genus. The taxa detected are listed below. In addition, the locality, altitude, substrate, collector number, frequency (F) of species (FC: Field Collection, MC: Moist Chamber technique) density data (D) and were determined respectively. If the ratio of the number of individuals of the species to the total number of individuals was less than 0.5%, it was expressed as rare (R), between 0.5-1.5% uncommon (O), between common 1.5-3% (C) and greater than plenty 3% (A) (Stephenson et al.,1993).   (Fr.) G. Lister P. nutans var. leucophaeum (Fr. Within the scope of this study conducted in Batman Central and Hasankeyf district, a total of 33 species belonging to 5 ordo, 7 families and 12 genus were determined. 702 substrate samples were collected from the research area and used to prepare moist chamber cultures in the laboratory. A total of 163 myxomycete recorded. Overall, 114 (70%) of these samples were obtained with the moist chamber technique. 49 species (30%) were from field collection. It is known that myxomycetes are mostly invisible and the collection rate in the land is low. In a study conducted in the forests of Istanbul, Belgrade, 251 myxomycete were recorded and only 71 of them were collected from the natural environment (Oran et al., 2006). In another study, 23% (7) of the species defined from İzmir were obtained from the natural environment and 77% (23) of them were from moist chamber culture studies (Oskay and Tüzün 2015). In other study, 7 of the samples identified from Hatay province were obtained from their natural habitats and 115 from moist chamber culture (Baba and Doğan 2018). The vast majority of the species obtained in this study were also obtained in the laboratory from the moist chamber culture.
In this study, only one species of the genus Echinostelium was determined. It was observed that this sample was less common in previous studies (Oran et al., 2006;Demirel et al., 2006;Yağız and Afyon, 2006;. In this study, species of the genus Didymium and Physarum were found the most. In previous studies, it was also more common to examples of this breed in the world and Turkey. The world and the most common of the species known in Turkey, Didymium (world: 93, Turkey: 23) and Physarum (World: 149, Turkey: 38) is located within the genus Lado, 2020).
According to the results, the ratio of the number of species to the number of genera (S/G) is used as an indicator of taxonomic diversity. The low rate of this rate indicates that the taxonomic diversity is high, and the high rate is the indication that the taxonomic diversity in the study is low (Stephenson et al., 1993). In this study, S/G ratio is 2.75. It was calculated as 2.24 for Southeast India and 4.13 for North America, in temperate or tropical regions S/G value has been reported to be between 2.2 and 4.6 (Stephenson and Stempen, 2000). In studies conducted in Turkey, the S/G ratio of 2.3 (Baba, 2015) Density of each of the 33 taxa in 163 myxomycete record gives the degree of abundance of the taxa. Abundance estimates of the species are based on the ratio of the species to the total number of samples (Stephenson et al., 1993). Considering the abundance of samples, 24 of 33 species were found between 0.5-1.5% and rare (O), 4 of them between 1.5-3% and common (C), 5 of them were larger than 3% and abundant (A). Among the species obtained, Didymium annulisporum, D. difforme, D. megalosporum, D. squamulosum and Lamproderma arcyrioides were detected in almost all stations as abundant species.
The reason for this may be that these species are cosmopolitan and their ecological tolerance is high. D. squamulosum was determined as the densest species with 48 record in 6 locations. The altitude value of the related sample has been found in different locations and different substrates. Apart from that, D. difforme (46) is the densest species after D. squamulosum.

CONCLUSION
As a result of the studies, 33 taxa belonging to 5 ordo, 7 families and 12 genera were determined and contributed to mycetezoa of Batman and Turkey. A total of 163 myxomycete recorded, 114 (70%) of were obtained with the moist chamber technique and 49 species (30%) are field collection. Among these, Physraceae, Didymiaceae, Stemonitidaceae families contain 25 out of 33 taxa. In this study, species of the genus Didymium and Physarum were found the most.
Considering the abundance of samples, 24 of 33 species were found between 0.5-1.5% and rare (O), 4 of them between 1.5-3% and common (C), 5 of them were larger than 3% and abundant (A). In this study, S/G ratio is 2.75 and this rate indicates that the taxonomic diversity of myxobiota in Batman province is high.