The cockroach origin of the termite gut microbiota: patterns in bacterial community structure reflect major evolutionary events.

ABSTRACT: Termites digest wood and other lignocellulosic substrates with the help of their intestinal microbiota. While the functions of the symbionts in the digestive process are slowly emerging, the origin of the bacteria colonizing the hindgut bioreactor is entirely unknown. Recently, our group discovered numerous representatives of bacterial lineages specific to termite guts in a closely related omnivorous cockroach, but it remains unclear whether they derive from the microbiota of a common ancestor or were independently selected by the gut environment. Here, we studied the bacterial gut microbiota in 34 species of termites and cockroaches using pyrotag analysis of the 16S rRNA genes. Although the community structures differed greatly between the major host groups, with dramatic changes in the r

SUBMITTER: Dietrich C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3993134 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature