AUTHOR=Kišidayová Svetlana , Durkaj Dominik , Mihaliková Katarína , Váradyová Zora , Puchalska Julia , Szumacher-Strabel Małgorzata , Cieślak Adam , Gizejewski Zygmunt 

TITLE=Rumen Ciliated Protozoa of the Free-Living European Bison (Bison bonasus, Linnaeus)

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2021.658448

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2021.658448

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>This study aims to perform population analysis of the rumen ciliated protozoa of the free-living European bison (wisent, <italic>Bison bonasus</italic>, Linnaeus). The samples of the rumen fluid from the 18 bison subjected to the controlled culls within the free-ranging population in the Bialowieza primeval forest in Poland were collected and examined. The examined ciliates population consisted of the species of the families <italic>Isotrichidae</italic> and <italic>Ophryoscolecidae</italic>. There were 12 genera (<italic>Isotricha, Dasytricha, Diplodinium, Elytroplastron, Entodinium, Eodinium, Epidinium, Eremoplastron, Eudiplodinium, Metadinium, Ophryoscolex</italic>, and <italic>Ostracodinium</italic>) and 32 morphospecies of the ciliates. We observed the prevalence of a type B protozoan population (56% animals) with the typical <italic>Epidinium</italic> and <italic>Eudiplodinium</italic> genera members. Other examined animals possessed the mixed A–B population with <italic>Ophryoscolex</italic> genus, distinct for type A ciliate population. The average total ciliates count was 2.77 ± 1.03 × 10<sup>5</sup>/ml (mean ± SD). The most abundant genera were <italic>Entodinium</italic>, 83%, and <italic>Dasytricha</italic>, 14%. The abundance of other genera was &lt;1% of the total count. Within the 16 <italic>Entodinium</italic> species determined, the most abundant species was <italic>Entodinium nanellum</italic> (16.3% of total ciliates count). The average Shannon–Wiener diversity index was 2.1 ± 0.39, evenness was 0.7 ± 0.11, and species richness was 24 ± 3.0 (mean ± SD). Our study is the first report on the population composition and diversity of rumen ciliates of European bison. The composition and counts of ciliate genera and species were similar to the composition and counts of the rumen ciliated protozoa of American bison and many other kinds of free-living and domestic ruminants. Our European bison ciliate population analysis has shown medium ciliate density and high diversity typical for large free-living ruminants with mixed feeding behavior.</p>