Taxonomic identities and phylogenetic relationships of fungal species isolated from tree shrew hair samples

Diverse fungal species live on the surfaces of plant tissues, some of which presumably occur in a mutualistic association. Some fungal species are widespread and can be found in many different animal species, whereas others are highly specific to single hosts. In this study, we investigated the taxonomic identities and phylogenetic relationships of fungal species isolated from tree shrew hair samples, using a combination of morphological and molecular approaches. Morphological differences among the seventyone fungal isolates indicate that diverse distinct morphotypes might be present on the hosts. Seven representative isolate taxa were selected for further molecular phylogenetic analysis using nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS1 and ITS2) DNA sequencing. The 71 endophytes were identified to the species level based on fungal sequences with known identities in GenBank. Our results suggest that 7 fungal genera are the dominant fungal parasites on the tree hairs.