Anaeromyces Contortus, Sp. Nov., a New Anaerobic Gut Fungal Species (Neocallimastigomycota) Isolated from the Feces of Cow and Goat

Ten different anaerobic gut fungal strains were isolated from fecal samples of cow and goat in Oklahoma, USA. The isolates displayed polycentric thalli, uniflagellated zoospores, and sausage-shaped hyphal constrictions, all characteristic of the genus Anaeromyces, and lobed or appressorium-like structures on the hyphae, previously reported in Anaeromyces elegans but not in A. mucronatus or A. robustus. Further, the strains exhibited highly coiled and entangled hyphae previously unreported in the Neocallimastigomycota, but resembling fungal traps previously observed in multiple nematophagous fungi. Scanning electron micrographs of isolates grown on switchgrass showed entrapment of plant material by the hyphal coils and the penetration of plant fibers at various sites by the appressorium-like structures. Molecular analysis based on sequences of both partial nuc rDNA ITS1 spacer region and the D1-D2 domains of the nuc28S rDNA confirmed the classification of all isolates in Anaeromyces and confirmed their phylogenetic distance from the available A. mucronatus and A. robustus sequences. On the basis of morphological and phylogenetic distinctions, we conclude that these strains represent a new Anaeromyces species, for which A. contortus is proposed.