Proteus anguinus is a neotenic cave salamander endemic to the Dinaric Karst and is on the World Conservation Union Red List due to its endangerment. As an endemic species with a narrow ecological niche, the olm is also highly susceptible to infection with water transmitted pathogens. Due to the inaccessibility of the subterranean environment, most scientific studies have focused on captive animals. However, in this master thesis we report on the diversity of cultivable fungi isolated from the skin of animals found in the wild (20 specimens), in captivity (22 specimens), as well as isolated from underground water environment. Animal skin was sampled non-invasively with swabs. Keratin-based baits were placed in the underground water for different time periods, and the water was filtered as well. All samples ware incubated on various media. A total of 392 fungal isolates (239 from skin and 153 from water) were obtained and identified using morphology and molecular data, comprising a total of 85 different genera and 154 species. Both syptomatic and asyptomatic animals were infected with different fungal species, most of which were represented by single isolates. Filamentous fungi were predominant, and microbial diversity was greater in asyptomatic animals. Oportunistic pathogenic fungi were detected, mainly the causative agents of chromomycosis and mucoromycosis in amphibians, from the genera Acremonium, Aspergillus, Cladosporium, Exophiala, Fusarium, Mucor, Ochroconis, Phialophora, and Penicillium. The composition of fungi sampled from the aquatic environment using the applied techniques differed from the cutaneous mycobiome of animals, with the predominant fast-growing fungi of the genera Trichoderma, Fusarium, and Mucor. The causative agents of saprolegniosis, the oomycetes Saprolegnia parasitica, S. delica, and S. ferax, were identified in water and in a symptomatic animal from the wild.
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