Functional metagenomics reveals abundant polysaccharide-degrading gene clusters and cellobiose utilization pathways within gut microbiota of a wood-feeding higher termite.

ABSTRACT: Plant cell-wall polysaccharides constitute the most abundant but recalcitrant organic carbon source in nature. Microbes residing in the digestive tract of herbivorous bilaterians are particularly efficient at depolymerizing polysaccharides into fermentable sugars and play a significant support role towards their host's lifestyle. Here, we combine large-scale functional screening of fosmid libraries, shotgun sequencing, and biochemical assays to interrogate the gut microbiota of the wood-feeding "higher" termite Globitermes brachycerastes. A number of putative polysaccharide utilization gene clusters were identified with multiple fibrolytic genes. Our large-scale functional screening of 50,000 fosmid clones resulted in 464 clones demonstrating plant polysaccharide-degrading activities, incl

SUBMITTER: Liu N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6298952 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature