Dataset Information

Endosymbiotic Bacteroidales bacteria of the flagellated protist Pseudotrichonympha grassii in the gut of the termite Coptotermes formosanus.

ABSTRACT: A unique lineage of bacteria belonging to the order Bacteroidales was identified as an intracellular endosymbiont of the protist Pseudotrichonympha grassii (Parabasalia, Hypermastigea) in the gut of the termite Coptotermes formosanus. We identified the 16S rRNA, gyrB, elongation factor Tu, and groEL gene sequences in the endosymbiont and detected a very low level of sequence divergence (<0.9% of the nucleotides) in the endosymbiont population within and among protist cells. The Bacteroidales endosymbiont sequence was affiliated with a cluster comprising only sequences from termite gut bacteria and was not closely related to sequences identified for members of the Bacteroidales attached to the cell surfaces of other gut protists. Transmission electron microscopy showed that there were numerous rod-shaped bacteria in the cytoplasm of the host protist, and we detected the endosymbiont by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with an oligonucleotide probe specific for the 16S rRNA gene identified. Quantification of the abundance of the Bacteroidales endosymbiont by sequence-specific cleavage of rRNA with RNase H and FISH cell counting revealed, surprisingly, that the endosymbiont accounted for 82% of the total bacterial rRNA and 71% of the total bacterial cells in the gut community. The genetically nearly homogeneous endosymbionts of Pseudotrichonympha were very abundant in the gut symbiotic community of the termite.

SUBMITTER: Noda S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1317455 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Endosymbiotic Bacteroidales bacteria of the flagellated protist Pseudotrichonympha grassii in the gut of the termite Coptotermes formosanus.

Noda Satoko S Iida Toshiya T Kitade Osamu O Nakajima Hideaki H Kudo Toshiaki T Ohkuma Moriya M

Applied and environmental microbiology 20051201 12

A unique lineage of bacteria belonging to the order Bacteroidales was identified as an intracellular endosymbiont of the protist Pseudotrichonympha grassii (Parabasalia, Hypermastigea) in the gut of the termite Coptotermes formosanus. We identified the 16S rRNA, gyrB, elongation factor Tu, and groEL gene sequences in the endosymbiont and detected a very low level of sequence divergence (<0.9% of the nucleotides) in the endosymbiont population within and among protist cells. The Bacteroidales end ...[more]

PMID: 16332877

Similar Datasets

Project description:Although subterranean termites live within soil, little attention has been paid on the potential interaction among subterranean termites and soil microbes. Herein, we conducted different choice tests to investigate aggregation and tunneling behaviors of Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki responding to soil/sand treated with conidia of seven soil fungi, Trichoderma longibrachiatum Rifai, Trichoderma koningii Oud., Trichoderma hamatum (Bon.) Bain., Trichoderma atroviride Karsten, Trichoderma spirale Indira and Kamala, Trichoderma harzianum Rifai, and Trichoderma viride Pers. ex Fries. In aggregation-choice test, soil treated with nearly all Trichoderma species tested (except T. koningii) significantly increased termite aggregation compared with untreated soil. In tunneling-choice tests, termites produced significantly larger tunnels in sand treated with T. longibrachiatum or T. koningii than that in untreated sand. We hypothesized that Trichoderma species could benefit termites by protecting them from infection of the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae (Metschn) Sorokin, and three Trichoderma species that attracted termites (T. longibrachiatum, T. atroviride, and T. harzianum) were tested. The antagonism tests showed that the three Trichoderma species suppressed growth of M. anisopliae. Also, the median lethal time (LT50) of termites exposed to both Trichoderma species and M. anisopliae was significantly longer than termites exposed to M. anisopliae alone. Interestingly, though significantly fewer termites aggregated in soil treated with M. anisopliae conidia compared with untreated soil, M. anisopliae conidia mixed with T. longibrachiatum or T. harzianum were no longer repellent to termites. Our results showed that the fungi in the genus Trichoderma (1) exerted generally attractive effects on termites, (2) protected termites from the infection of entomopathogenic fungus, and (3) altered pathogen-avoiding behaviors of termites. Future studies will be required to understand the mechanisms underlying these newly discovered effects.

Dataset Information

Endosymbiotic Bacteroidales bacteria of the flagellated protist Pseudotrichonympha grassii in the gut of the termite Coptotermes formosanus.

Publications

Endosymbiotic Bacteroidales bacteria of the flagellated protist Pseudotrichonympha grassii in the gut of the termite Coptotermes formosanus.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets