The bacterial community in the gut of the Cockroach Shelfordella lateralis reflects the close evolutionary relatedness of cockroaches and termites.

ABSTRACT: Termites and cockroaches are closely related, with molecular phylogenetic analyses even placing termites within the radiation of cockroaches. The intestinal tract of wood-feeding termites harbors a remarkably diverse microbial community that is essential for the digestion of lignocellulose. However, surprisingly little is known about the gut microbiota of their closest relatives, the omnivorous cockroaches. Here, we present a combined characterization of physiological parameters, metabolic activities, and bacterial microbiota in the gut of Shelfordella lateralis, a representative of the cockroach family Blattidae, the sister group of termites. We compared the bacterial communities within each gut compartment using terminal-restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis and made

SUBMITTER: Schauer C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3318830 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature