Composition and diversity of rumen mycobiota in Jiani yaks (<i>Bos grunniens</i> jiani): insights into microbial ecology and functions

This study aimed to explore the diversity and functions of rumen mycobiota in 14‑ (PLf) and 15‑rib (DLf) Jiani yaks using ITS sequencing. A total of 1,079,105 and 1,086,799 filtered sequences were obtained for the PLf and DLf groups, respectively, with 491 ASVs common to both. No significant difference regarding the α‑diversity of mycobiota within the two groups was observed. While β‑diversity analysis indicated that the abundance of fifteen (15) genera in the PLf group and two (2) genera in the DLf group was found to be significantly different (p &lt; 0.05). 16S rRNA sequencing results indicated that at the phylum level, in 14 ribs yaks Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, and Olpidiomycota, while in 15 rib yaks, Neocallimastigomycota, Mortierellomycota, and Rozellomycota were found to be significantly different (<i>p &lt; 0.05</i>). At the genus level, <i>Rhodotorula</i>, <i>Kluyveromyces</i>, <i>Comoclathris</i>, <i>Arthrinium</i>, <i>Cladophialophora</i>, <i>Seimatosporium</i>, <i>Lambertella,</i> and <i>Sphacelotheca</i> in 14 rib yaks, and <i>Orpinomyces, Ustilago</i>, <i>Fusarium, Aspergillus, Caecomyces, Alternaria, Trichoderma</i> and <i>Acremonium</i> in 15 rib yaks were found to be significantly (<i>p &lt; 0.05</i>) different. Predictive functional analysis based on ruminal fungal DNA sequences from 15‑rib yaks (DLf) demonstrated that genes involved in energy metabolism were upregulated. This study sheds novel insights into how genetic variations influence gut mycobiota in Jiani yak.