Compositional and functional characterisation of biomass-degrading microbial communities in guts of plant fibre- and soil-feeding higher termites.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Termites are among the most successful insect lineages on the globe and are responsible for providing numerous ecosystem services. They mainly feed on wood and other plant material at different stages of humification. Lignocellulose is often a principal component of such plant diet, and termites largely rely on their symbiotic microbiota and associated enzymes to decompose their food efficiently. While lower termites and their gut flagellates were given larger scientific attention in the past, the gut lignocellulolytic bacteria of higher termites remain less explored. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the structure and function of gut prokaryotic microbiomes from 11 higher termite genera representative of Syntermitinae, Apicotermitinae, Termitidae and Nasutitermi

SUBMITTER: Marynowska M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7313118 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature