Taxonomic features and comparisons of the gut microbiome from two edible fungus-farming termites (Macrotermes falciger; M. natalensis) harvested in the Vhembe district of Limpopo, South Africa.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Termites are an important food resource for many human populations around the world, and are a good supply of nutrients. The fungus-farming 'higher' termite members of Macrotermitinae are also consumed by modern great apes and are implicated as critical dietary resources for early hominins. While the chemical nutritional composition of edible termites is well known, their microbiomes are unexplored in the context of human health. Here we sequenced the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene of gut microbiota extracted from the whole intestinal tract of two Macrotermes sp. soldiers collected from the Limpopo region of South Africa.

Results

Major and minor soldier subcastes of M. falciger exhibit consistent differences in taxonomic representation, and are variable in microbi

SUBMITTER: Schnorr SL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6637627 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature