Host-Symbiont Cospeciation of Termite-Gut Cellulolytic Protists of the Genera Teranympha and Eucomonympha and their Treponema Endosymbionts.

ABSTRACT: Cellulolytic flagellated protists inhabit the hindgut of termites. They are unique and essential to termites and related wood-feeding cockroaches, enabling host feeding on cellulosic matter. Protists of two genera in the family Teranymphidae (phylum Parabasalia), Eucomonympha and Teranympha, are phylogenetically closely related and harbor intracellular endosymbiotic bacteria from the genus Treponema. In order to obtain a clearer understanding of the evolutionary history of this triplex symbiotic relationship, the molecular phylogenies of the three symbiotic partners, the Teranymphidae protists, their Treponema endosymbionts, and their host termites, were inferred and compared. Strong congruence was observed in the tree topologies of all interacting partners, implying their cospeciating rel

SUBMITTER: Noda S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5877339 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature