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Title: Metagenomic analysis of the microbiota in the highly compartmented hindguts of six wood- or soil-feeding higher termites

Journal Article · · Microbiome
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [2];  [4];  [5];  [3]
  1. Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg (Germany); Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States)
  2. Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg (Germany)
  3. Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg (Germany); Philipps-Univ. Marburg, Marburg (Germany)
  4. Univ. of Florida, Davie, FL (United States)
  5. Univ. Paris 13, Villetaneuse (France); Sorbonne Univ., Bondy (France)
+ Show Author Affiliations

Termites are important contributors to carbon and nitrogen cycling in tropical ecosystems. Higher termites digest lignocellulose in various stages of humification with the help of an entirely prokaryotic microbiota housed in their compartmented intestinal tract. Previous studies revealed fundamental differences in community structure between compartments, but the functional roles of individual lineages in symbiotic digestion are mostly unknown. Furthermore, we conducted a highly resolved analysis of the gut microbiota in six species of higher termites that feed on plant material at different levels of humification. Combining amplicon sequencing and metagenomics, we assessed similarities in community structure and functional potential between the major hindgut compartments (P1, P3, and P4). Cluster analysis of the relative abundances of orthologous gene clusters (COGs) revealed high similarities among woodand litter-feeding termites and strong differences to humivorous species. However, abundance estimates of bacterial phyla based on 16S rRNA genes greatly differed from those based on protein-coding genes. In conclusion, the community structure and functional potential of the microbiota in individual gut compartments are clearly driven by the digestive strategy of the host. The metagenomics libraries obtained in this study provide the basis for future studies that elucidate the fundamental differences in the symbiont-mediated breakdown of lignocellulose and humus by termites of different feeding groups. Furthermore, the high proportion of uncultured bacterial lineages in all samples calls for a reference-independent approach for the correct taxonomic assignment of protein-coding genes.

Research Organization:
Univ. of California, Oakland, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
1240993
Journal Information:
Microbiome, Vol. 3, Issue 1; ISSN 2049-2618
Publisher:
BioMed CentralCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 36 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (20)

Comparison of gut bacterial communities and their associations with host diets in four fruit borers journal November 2019
Microbial Communities of the Gut and Nest of the Humus- and Litter-Feeding Termite Procornitermes araujoi (Syntermitinae) journal September 2018
Effects of diet type, developmental stage, and gut compartment in the gut bacterial communities of two Cerambycidae species (Coleoptera) journal December 2016
Species-wide Metabolic Interaction Network for Understanding Natural Lignocellulose Digestion in Termite Gut Microbiota journal November 2019
The complete mitochondrial genomes of the higher termites Labiotermes labralis and Embiratermes neotenicus (Termitidae: Syntermitinae) journal January 2017
The origin of fungi-culture in termites was associated with a shift to a mycolytic gut bacteria community posted_content October 2018
Ecological specificity of the metagenome in a set of lower termite species supports contribution of the microbiome to adaptation of the host posted_content May 2019
Efficient but occasionally imperfect vertical transmission of gut mutualistic protists in a wood‐feeding termite journal December 2019
Optimization of a metatranscriptomic approach to study the lignocellulolytic potential of the higher termite gut microbiome journal September 2017
The gut bacteria across life stages in the synanthropic fly Chrysomya megacephala journal October 2018
Lignocellulose degradation at the holobiont level: teamwork in a keystone soil invertebrate journal September 2018
Compositional and functional characterisation of biomass-degrading microbial communities in guts of plant fibre- and soil-feeding higher termites journal June 2020
Ecological specificity of the metagenome in a set of lower termite species supports contribution of the microbiome to adaptation of the host journal October 2019
Characterization of cellulose-degrading microbiota from the eastern subterranean termite and soil journal January 2017
The functional microbiome of arthropods journal May 2017
Differential Ecological Specificity of Protist and Bacterial Microbiomes across a Set of Termite Species journal December 2017
Uncovering the Potential of Termite Gut Microbiome for Lignocellulose Bioconversion in Anaerobic Batch Bioreactors journal December 2017
Compositional and functional characterisation of biomass-degrading microbial communities in guts of plant fibre- and soil-feeding higher termites posted_content June 2020
Characterization of Cellulose-Degrading Microbiota from The Eastern Subterranean Termite and Soil text January 2017
Compositional and functional characterisation of biomass-degrading microbial communities in guts of plant fibre- and soil-feeding higher termites posted_content June 2020

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59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
metagenomics
termites
hindgut
functional potential
gut microbiota
community structure