Abstract:

Anaerobic fungi play a significant role in promoting the degradation of fibrous feed in the rumen. Authors reviewed recent research advances in biological taxonomy, classification and life circle of rumen fungi. The rapid development and application of molecular biology methods, including rDNA sequence analysis, restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLP) and automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis (ARISA), have brought a new pathway for updating the study of rumen fungi. Due to high sensitivity and specificity, these easy-to-handle techniques have been widely applied in the taxonomical classification and molecular phylogenetic analysis for rumen fungi, and quantitative analysis of the fungi biomass by a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique has been successfully used to monitor anaerobic fungi in rumen micro-ecology circumstance.