Abstract: To explore fungal community structure and species composition in Fahua-fermentation process of Fuzhuan Brick Tea, the fungal variable region of 18S rDNA was amplified during different periods of Fahuafermentation process. Amplified products were separated by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and the bands were cloned, sequenced and aligned. The results show that two distinctive kinds of fungal communities, correlating to the fermentation periods, 0-8 d and 10-14 d respectively, were found. The dominant fungi of the former band include Wallemia muriae, Pichia kudriavzevii, Candida sp., and that of the latter include Eurotium amstelodami and W. muriae. The results of variable regions of 18S rDNA alignment showed that W. sebi, W. muriae, Debaryomyces hansenii, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Candida sp., C. tropicalis, Lodderomyces sp., P. kudriavzevii, Rhodotorula graminis, Rhizomucor pusillus, Cryptococcus sp., E. amstelodami, Aspergillus penicillioides, R. miehei, C. ontarioensis, Trichosporon dermatis, Penicillium decumbens, Galactomyces geotrichum, A. glaucus, E. herbariorum were detected. The 18S rDNA alignment results also confirmed that there were 3 strains of W. sebi and 5 strains of E. amstelodami, displaying a wide variety of ecotypes within the dominant fungi. This study for the first time shows a detailed spectrum of fungi during the Fahuafermentation process. DGGE fingerprint is an important technique to analyze the comprehensive, detailed fungal community structure and diversity dynamics of Fuzhuan Brick Tea during this process.

Key words: carbon stable isotope, otolith, Schizothorax kozlovi, oxygen stable isotope