20.500.12556/RUL-178068 Stress-induced cross-protection and combined stress responses in extremotolerant black yeasts Extremotolerant fungi inhabit environments with multiple overlapping stressors, yet most studies examine stresses individually. We tested whether preconditioning with salt, cold, or both improves survival after desiccation and freezing, and whether combined salinity and temperature effects on growth are additive or synergistic. We studied Aureobasidium pullulans, Aureobasidium subglaciale, Aureobasidium melanogenum, and Hortaea werneckii (haploid and diploid). All preconditioning treatments significantly increased long-term desiccation survival in A. pullulans, reflecting its generalist capacity to activate crossprotective responses. H. werneckii displayed smaller improvements, consistent with a specialist strategy. Freezing survival without cryoprotectants remained ~100% in both species, indicating high intrinsic tolerance. Growth analyses revealed synergistic effects of salinity and temperature in Aureobasidium spp. Species differed in salinity sensitivity (A. melanogenum > A. pullulans > A. subglaciale) and thermal preferences. A. melanogenum and A. pullulans grew faster at higher temperatures, while A. subglaciale showed the opposite trend. In H. werneckii, salinity governed growth. Haploids slowed as salinity increased, while the diploid remained unaffected. This is the first confirmation of the long-standing suggestion that hybrid diploid genomes of many H. werneckii are an adaptation to osmotic stress. These findings illustrate two pathways to extremotolerance: inducible flexibility in Aureobasidium versus constitutive halotolerance in H. werneckii. Aureobasidium Hortaea werneckii ploidy salt stress temperature stress combined stress effects stress preconditioning freezing survival desiccation survival Aureobasidium Hortaea werneckii ploidnost solni stres temperaturni stres združeni učinki stresorjev stresno predkondicioniranje preživetje po zamrzovanju preživetje po izsuševanju true false false Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik Neznano 2026-01-17 04:38:01 2026-01-26 09:00:12 2026-01-27 04:23:10 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2026 0 0 Str. 1-22 iss. 1 Vol. 12 2026 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova NiDoloceno NiDoloceno 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 2026-01-01 577 2309-608X 10.3390/jof12010043 264995075 RAZ_Fortuna_Klavdija_2026.pdf RAZ_Fortuna_Klavdija_2026.pdf 1 924AE48F6CE213341902004963709E21 1862f1dd9f05a4a3422fbe746b3646d68610a3eb717a395da17e43152783f2af 242e7fa6-fa8d-11f0-a1ba-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=226161 Biotehniška fakulteta 0 0 0