GENOTYPIC CHARACTERIZATION OF SOME PATHOGENIC FUNGI ISOLATED FROM POULTRY AND THEIR SURROUNDINGS

Regarding high morbidity, mortality, and production losses, fungi infections have their importance among infectious illnesses and seem to be one of the main challenges facing poultry producers. This study aims to identify the genotypic characteristics of some fungi isolated from poultry. To reach this end, in El-Gharbia Governorate, Egypt, a total of 210 birds with a history of respiratory distress were randomly selected from a variety of private farms and hatcheries. The birds were sacrificed; tissue pieces were collected. In addition, a total of 87 samples of the poultry surroundings including 40 samples of poultry ration, 14 bedding materials, 4 air samples, and 29 water samples were collected. Using traditional fungal isolation, four fungal species were recovered, namely, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Cladosporium perangustum, and Penicillium chrysogenum. PCR was performed by fungus-specific universal primer pairs (ITS1 and ITS4) to identify and describe the genotype of isolated fungi. All examined isolates' ITS1-5.8SrDNA regions could be amplified. A purified PCR product was sequenced according to the Emerald Amp GT PCR master mix. This was initially performed to establish sequence identity to GenBank accession numbers. The rRNA gene for 5.8 sRNA divides the two ITS sections, which are situated between the 18S and 28S rRNA genes. ITS-1 gene sequence of the isolated Cladosporium perangustum (GeneBank accession number was OM 407392). The Sequence of the ITS-1 of isolated Penicillium chrysogenum (GeneBank accession numbers for studied nucleotide sequences were OM407401; OM407402; OM403685, and OM403686). For the examined nucleotide sequences, the GeneBank accession number for the ITS-1 internal transcribed spacer region of single Aspergillus niger was OM407391. GeneBank accession numbers for the isolated Aspergillus flavus ITS-1 sequence examined nucleotide sequences were OM403676, OM403677, and OM403678. In conclusion, genotypic characterization confirmed the phenotypic traditional fungal identification in the present study.  Aspergillus species are the major fungi associated with birds in Egypt farms. The predominantly identified species were Aspergillus flavus and Penicillium chrysogenum.