@article{f0f3bff65f8e4cd59d954326d8b25d2e,
title = "Occurrence and diversity of anaerobic gut fungi in wild forest elephants and buffaloes inhabiting two separated forest ecosystems in Central West Africa",
abstract = "Anaerobic gut fungi of the class Neocallimastigomycetes are of great importance for herbivorous animals. Their immediate colonization and mechanical breakdown of plant particles pave the way for highly efficient enzymatic fermentation of complex plant polysaccharides. Neocallimastigomycetes are found in a variety of herbivores, yet so far studies almost exclusively investigated domestic or captive animals. Here, the occurrence and diversity of Neocallimastigomycetes in two different populations of sympatric, wild African forest elephants and forest buffaloes were determined. In both hosts together, a total of 16 species-equivalent Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) (0.05 cut-off level) were generated. Buffaloes harboured four and elephants five anaerobic fungi genera or genus-equivalent taxa, respectively, with four genera occurring in both hosts. In elephants the majority of gut fungi group within a cluster of yet unknown Neocallimastigomycetes. Similarly, some anaerobic fungi found in buffaloes form a genus-equivalent cluster with likewise undescribed gut fungi. Sequences grouping in these two clusters could potentially qualify as representatives of new anaerobic fungi genera. Further, three sequences have not yet been encountered in any study and cannot be assigned to any genus or genus-equivalent Neocallimastigomycetes taxon. Whether these sequences also represent putative new lineages needs further investigation.",
keywords = "gut microbiome, mycobiome, Neocallimastigomycetes, wild herbivores",
author = "Doreen Schulz and Ilona P{\v s}enkov{\'a}-Profousov{\'a} and Barbora {\v C}erven{\'a} and Miranda Procter and Neba, {Terence Fuh} and David Modr{\'y} and Petr{\v z}elkov{\'a}, {Kl{\'a}ra J.} and Qablan, {Moneeb A.}",
note = "Funding Information: We thank the government of the Central African Republic and the Ministre de l{\textquoteright}Education Nationale, de l{\textquoteright}Alphabetisation, de l{\textquoteright}Enseignement Superieur, et de la Recherche for granting permission to conduct our research within the Dzanga-Sangha Protected Areas, Central African Republic. We are very grateful to the World Wildlife Fund and the associated Primate Habituation Project for their administrative and logistical support. We likewise thank the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technologique (permit number N°AR0010/14/MESRS/CENAREST/CG/CST/ CSAR) and the Agence National des Parcs Nationaux (permit number N°AE140009/PR/ANPN/SE/CS/ AEPN) for research authorization in the Loango National Park, Gabon. We thank SFM Safari Gabon for hosting this research and Matthew H. Shirley and Emilie Fairet for their kind assistance with logistics. We also express our deepest gratitude for the invaluable work of the tracker teams and field assistants at each field site without whom the project would not have been possible. The project was financially supported by the Leakey Foundation (D. Schulz, K.J. Petr{\v z}elkov{\'a}), by the project CEITEC (Central European Institute of Technology, CZ.1·05/1·1·00/02·0068) from the European Regional Development Fund (D. Modr{\'y}), by institutional support of Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Czech Academy of Sciences (RVO: 68081766) (K.J. Petr{\v z}elkov{\'a}, D. Schulz, B. {\v C}erven{\'a}) and cofinanced from the European Social Fund and the state budget of the Czech Republic (CZ.1·07/2·3·00/20·0300) (D. Schulz, I. Profousov{\'a}-P{\v s}enkov{\'a}, M.A. Qablan, D. Modr{\'y}, K.J. Petr{\v z}elkov{\'a}). Author contributions: Sample collection of elephant and buffalo faeces in Bai Hokou has been carried out by D. Schulz, T.F. Neba and I. Profousov{\'a}-P{\v s}enkov{\'a}; sample collection in Loango NP by B. {\v C}erven{\'a}. All laboratory work was done by D. Schulz. Data have been analysed by D. Schulz, M.A. Qablan and M. Procter. Writing the manuscript was done by D. Schulz, M.A. Qablan and K.J. Petr{\v z}elkov{\'a} with contributions from B. {\v C}erven{\'a}, D. Modr{\'y} and M. Procter. Funding Information: We thank the government of the Central African Republic and the Ministre de l'Education Nationale, de l'Alphabetisation, de l'Enseignement Superieur, et de la Recherche for granting permission to conduct our research within the Dzanga-Sangha Protected Areas, Central African Republic. We are very grateful to the World Wildlife Fund and the associated Primate Habituation Project for their administrative and logistical support. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 EDP Sciences. All rights reserved.",
year = "2022",
month = jan,
day = "1",
doi = "10.25225/jvb.21033",
language = "English",
volume = "71",
journal = "Journal of Vertebrate Biology",
issn = "0139-7893",
publisher = "Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Czech Academy of Sciences",
number = "21033",
}