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Abstract

We report on the isolation and characterization of three isolates of anaerobic gut fungi from a cattle faecal sample obtained in Stillwater, OK, USA. The isolates produced polycentric thalli with nucleated rhizomycelia, lobed appressorium-like structures, intercalary sporangia and constricted sausage-like hyphae. These morphological features are characteristic of members of the genus . No zoospore production was observed during the isolation process or thereafter. The strains seemed to have propagated solely through their nucleated hyphae post initial enrichment. Phylogenetic analysis of the D1/D2 region of the large ribosomal subunit (D1/D2 LSU) rRNA, the ribosomal intergenic spacer region 1 (ITS1), RNA polymerase II large subunit (RPB1) and comparative average amino acid identity using transcriptomic datasets further confirmed the position of the type strain as a distinct member of the genus , family and phylum . We propose to accommodate these isolates into a new species () within the genus . The type strain is EE.1.

Funding
This study was supported by the:
  • National Institute of Health (Award 1P20GM152333)
    • Principal Award Recipient: MostafaS. Elshahed
  • National Science Foundation (Award 2029478)
    • Principal Award Recipient: MostafaS. Elshahed
  • This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. This article was made open access via a Publish and Read agreement between the Microbiology Society and the corresponding author’s institution.
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/content/journal/ijsem/10.1099/ijsem.0.006719
2025-03-17
2026-02-16

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