Characteristics of the species diversity of endobiontic infusoria in mammals in the Northern and Arctic territories

Abstract

Thein terim results of the first year of the project,funded by theRussian Science Foundation(RSF), are presented. The study focuses on the species diversity of the symbiofauna of domestic animals bred in Yakutia.A total of 1,760 samples were collected from various types of domestic animals and analyzed. The research identified and described 98species of endobiontsin ruminantsand25species in horses (based on2breedtypesof theYakutbreed). Additionally, severalr are species of ciliates were discovered during the study. Notably, this study is the first to compare the diversity of Yakut aboriginal cattle with crossbred and Simmental cattle. The findings reveal that the endemic Yakut cow, bred under conditions of poor, low-nutrient feeding during along winter period, has developed an adaptive functional feature, such as a diverse symbiont fauna of protozoa, to facilitate the complete breakdown and absorption of limited nutrients in the feed. Furthermore, the study found no significant differences in symbiofauna between the Even and Chukotka reindeer breeds, which differ in their breeding zones.In the Even breed of deer, a total of 13 species were identified, while in the Chukchi deer, 11 species from six genera were found. In domestic sheep and hybrids (which are half domestic sheep and half wild bighorn sheep), 12 ciliate species were identified, buttheir diversity did not differ. In theYakuthorsebreed,15 species of endobiont ciliates were identified, of which 11 are indigenous and 14 are of the Yan type. This research provides the first data on the endobionts of herd horses of the Yanatype of the Yakutbreed. Thestudied populations of herd horses were characterized by are latively high level of end obiontdiversity. The species similarity between two populations of the Yakut horse breed, bred in different geographical zones, was demonstrated. This research has identified the symbiotic fauna of domestic animals and established a connection between the species composition of the symbiotic fauna and the habitat of the animals, including their social behavior.