Neotoma spp. (woodrats) fecal fungal ITS and metagenomic sequencing.. Neotoma

Fungi are frequently detected in vertebrate guts and some taxa contribute to herbivore digestion, but it is unclear how persistent these communities are. This study aimed to determine if fungal communities associated with mammals are maintained in wild and captive conditions. Fungal ITS2 and shotgun metagenomic reads were obtained from feces of wild and captive woodrats (Neotoma spp.) collected from 25 populations across the southwestern United States. Samples were collected from individuals in the wild, and then the same individuals were re-sampled after a month in captivity on a controlled diet. Sequences are derived from many of the same samples in BioProject PRJNA722312 where 16S sequencing was done.