anaerobic consortium including anaerobic fungi from equine feces

Consortia-based approaches are a promising avenue towards efficient bioprocessing. However, many complex microbial interactions dictate community dynamics and stability. The rumen of large herbivores harbors a network of biomass-degrading fungi and bacteria, as well as archaea and protozoa that work together to degrade lignocellulose, yet the microbial interactions responsible for consortia stability and activity remain uncharacterized. In this work, we demonstrate a novel enrichment-based isolation method selecting for a minimal biomass-degrading community containing anaerobic fungi, methanogenic archaea, and bacteria.