Morphological and molecular identification of ascomycetous coprophilous fungi occurring on feces of some bird species

Abstract

Coprophilous fungi are a highly diverse assemblage encompassing all major groups of fungi and have important role in decomposition and recycling of animal feces, especially feces of herbivores. The present study was aimed to characterize ascomycetous fungi associated with the feces of some birds including sparrow and crow. Fresh fecal samples were collected in paper bags and taken into the laboratory. About 0.05 g of each sample was transferred on to acidified Potato Dextrose Agar medium (PDA) (containing 2 ml of 20 % lactic acid/liter) and cultures were kept in 25˚C in incubator. Pure cultures were established using single spore or hyphal tip techniques. Then fungal isolates were identified based on morphological characteristics and sequence data from ITS-rDNA region. In this study we report Alternaria alternata, Paraconiothyrium fungicola, Chaetomium murorum, Fusarium solani, Cladosporium herbarum, Sarocladium strictum and Epicoccum nigrum as fungal mycobiota associated with the feces of birds.