Coprophilous fungi of the horse

Abstract

A total of 1267 microfungi, including 35 Myxomycetes, were recorded from the fecal samples of the 60 horses; of these 395 were found on 20 saddle-horse feces, 363 on 20 race-horses and 509 on 20 working horses. Eighty two species representing 53 genera were recorded; of these 7 were Zygomycetes, 18 Ascomycetes, 1 Basidiomycetes and 25 Fungi Imperfecti: 2 Myxomycetes. Common coprophilous fungi are in decreasing order Pilobolus kleinii, Saccobolus depauperatus, Mucor hiemalis, Lasiobolus ciliatus, Podospora curvula, Petriella guttulata, M. circinelloides, Coprinus radiatus, Dictyostelium mucoroides, Sordaria fimicola, C. miser, C. stercorariusm, Acremonium sp., Coprotus granuliformis, Graphium putredinis, Iodophanus carneus, Chaetomium murorum, Podospora communis, P. inaequalis, P. setosa, Saccobolus versicolor and Cladosporium cucumerinum. Species of Myrothecium verrucaria, Actinomucor elegans, Kernia nitida, Spiculostilbella dendritica and Mucor parvispora were found exclusively in working-horses feces. Badhamia sp., Anixiopsis stercoraria, Echinobotryum state of D. stemonitis, Geotrichum candidum and Oidiodendron sp. were found only in saddle-horses feces. Chlamidomyces palmarum, Philocopra sp. were found exclusively in race-horses feces. Notes on infrequent or interesting fungi include Thamnostylum piriforme, Phialocephala dimorphospora, Rhopalomyces elegans and Spiculostilbella dendritica.

Evolution of Multicopper Oxidase Genes in Coprophilous and Non-Coprophilous Members of the Order Sordariales

“…Interestingly, the M. verrucaria bilirubin oxidase was identified in a screen for microorganisms decolorizing urine and feces in raw sewage [49]. M. verrucaria was also identified on the dung of horses [50]. Thus the coprophilous fungi, S. macrospora and P. anserina seem to have the ability to oxidize bilirubin, the degradation product of hemoglobin, which is mainly excreted via feces.…”

Plant biomass degrading ability of the coprophilic ascomycete fungus Podospora anserina

“…The first coprophilous fungi commonly found in dung are saprotrophic zygomycetes that assimilate the most easily utilizable biomass components like hemicelluloses and pectins. For instance, the coprophilous zygomycete Pilobolus is often the earliest fungus identified in horse dung (Pointelli et al, 1981;Richardson, 2002). Ascomycetes such as Chaetomium, Sordaria, and Podospora then digest more complex components, and recalcitrant lignin is finally fully degraded by basidiomycetes (e.g., Coprinopsis cinerea (Stajich et al, 2010)).…”

Acremonium mycetoma in a heart transplant recipient

“…23 Though A murorum is common in soil and on plant substrates, the only association with mammalian infection is a report of the organism in equine feces. 24 The possibility of Acremonium as a contaminant in this case was considered but was unlikely, as the same species was identified in culture and demonstrated histologically in separate specimens taken at the bedside and in the operating room.…”