Termites Are Associated with External Species-Specific Bacterial Communities

0542359 - MBÚ 2022 RIV US eng J - Journal Article
Soukup, P. - Větrovský, Tomáš - Stiblik, P. - Votýpková, K. - Chakraborty, A. - Sillam-Dusses, D. - Kolařík, Miroslav - Odriozola Larranga, Inaki - Lo, N. - Baldrian, Petr - Šobotník, J. - Bourguignon, T.
Termites Are Associated with External Species-Specific Bacterial Communities.
Applied and Environmental Microbiology. Roč. 87, č. 2 (2021), č. článku e02042-20. ISSN 0099-2240. E-ISSN 1098-5336
R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA16-05318S
Institutional support: RVO:61388971
Keywords : fungus-growing termites * gut microbiota * Coptotermes * ectosymbionts * Heterotermes * Nasutitermes * symbiosis
OECD category: Microbiology
Impact factor: 5.005, year: 2021
Method of publishing: Open access
https://aem.asm.org/content/87/2/e02042-20

All termites have established a wide range of associations with symbiotic microbes in their guts. Some termite species are also associated with microbes that grow in their nests, but the prevalence of these associations remains largely unknown. Here, we studied the bacterial communities associated with the termites and galleries of three wood-feeding termite species by using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. We found that the compositions of bacterial communities among termite bodies, termite galleries, and control wood fragments devoid of termite activities differ in a species-specific manner. Termite galleries were enriched in bacterial operational taxonomic units (OTUs) belonging to Rhizobiales and Actinobacteria, which were often shared by several termite species. The abundance of several bacterial OTUs, such as Bacillus, Clostridium, Corynebacterium, and Staphylococcus, was reduced in termite galleries. Our results demonstrate that both termite guts and termite galleries harbor unique bacterial communities.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0319782