diff --git a/magna/gtdb/tree.py b/magna/gtdb/tree.py
index 0f5f89d..40b6f04 100644
--- a/magna/gtdb/tree.py
+++ b/magna/gtdb/tree.py
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ def __init__(self, source: str, path: str, md5: str):
         self.tree = self._read()
 
     def _read(self):
-        return dendropy.Tree.get(path=self.path, schema='newick')
+        return dendropy.Tree.get(path=self.path, schema='newick', preserve_underscores=True)
 
     def _download(self):
         with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmpdir: