Recent graduate Casey Meili published a huge project in which she generated and analyzed an amplicon dataset from over 600 fecal samples encompassing 34 mammalian species, 9 families, and 6 continents.

This is the only global AGF diversity survey to date and added 56 novel genera to the 31 known genera and genera candidates of AGF. Meili also determined that host phylogenetic association is more important in determining community structure than domestication status or biogeography. Further, fungal-host relationships are stronger and more specific in animals with hindgut fermentation, and an analysis of various strains and genera suggests that hindgut preferences evolved earlier than foregut preferences. 

Congratulations, Casey!

The full paper, "Patterns and determinants of the global herbivorous mycobiome" can be found in Nature Communications, https://rdcu.be/dfq1u or DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-39508-z