Dataset Information

Hidden cellulases in termites: revision of an old hypothesis.

ABSTRACT: The intestinal flagellates of termites produce cellulases that contribute to cellulose digestion of their host termites. However, 75% of all termite species do not harbour the cellulolytic flagellates; the endogenous cellulase secreted from the midgut tissue has been considered a sole source of cellulases in these termites. Using the xylophagous flagellate-free termites Nasutitermes takasagoensis and Nasutitermes walkeri, we successfully solubilized cellulases present in the hindgut pellets. Zymograms showed that the hindguts of these termites possessed several cellulases and contained up to 59% cellulase activity against crystalline cellulose when compared with the midgut. Antibiotic treatment administered to N. takasagoensis significantly reduced cellulase activity in the hindgut, suggesting that these cellulases were produced by symbiotic bacteria.

SUBMITTER: Tokuda G

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2464699 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Hidden cellulases in termites: revision of an old hypothesis.

Tokuda Gaku G Watanabe Hirofumi H

Biology letters 20070601 3

The intestinal flagellates of termites produce cellulases that contribute to cellulose digestion of their host termites. However, 75% of all termite species do not harbour the cellulolytic flagellates; the endogenous cellulase secreted from the midgut tissue has been considered a sole source of cellulases in these termites. Using the xylophagous flagellate-free termites Nasutitermes takasagoensis and Nasutitermes walkeri, we successfully solubilized cellulases present in the hindgut pellets. Zym ...[more]

PMID: 17374589

Similar Datasets

Project description:Fire shapes the composition and functioning of ecosystems globally. In many regions, fire is actively managed to create diverse patch mosaics of fire-ages under the assumption that a diversity of post-fire-age classes will provide a greater variety of habitats, thereby enabling species with differing habitat requirements to coexist, and enhancing species diversity (the pyrodiversity begets biodiversity hypothesis). However, studies provide mixed support for this hypothesis. Here, using termite communities in a semi-arid region of southeast Australia, we test four key assumptions of the pyrodiversity begets biodiversity hypothesis (i) that fire shapes vegetation structure over sufficient time frames to influence species' occurrence, (ii) that animal species are linked to resources that are themselves shaped by fire and that peak at different times since fire, (iii) that species' probability of occurrence or abundance peaks at varying times since fire and (iv) that providing a diversity of fire-ages increases species diversity at the landscape scale. Termite species and habitat elements were sampled in 100 sites across a range of fire-ages, nested within 20 landscapes chosen to represent a gradient of low to high pyrodiversity. We used regression modelling to explore relationships between termites, habitat and fire. Fire affected two habitat elements (coarse woody debris and the cover of woody vegetation) that were associated with the probability of occurrence of three termite species and overall species richness, thus supporting the first two assumptions of the pyrodiversity hypothesis. However, this did not result in those species or species richness being affected by fire history per se. Consequently, landscapes with a low diversity of fire histories had similar numbers of termite species as landscapes with high pyrodiversity. Our work suggests that encouraging a diversity of fire-ages for enhancing termite species richness in this study region is not necessary.

Project description:Basidiomata of Phallales have a diversified morphology with adhesive gleba that exudes an odor, usually unpleasant that attracts mainly insects, which disperse the basidiospores. The genus Blumenavia belongs to the family Clathraceae and, based on morphological features, only two species are currently recognized: B. rhacodes and B. angolensis. However, the morphological characters adopted in species delimitations within this genus are inconsistent, and molecular data are scarce. The present study aimed to review and identify informative characters that contribute to the delimitation of Blumenavia species. Exsiccates from America and Africa were analyzed morphologically, and molecularly, using ITS, LSU, ATP6, RPB2 and TEF-1α markers for Maximum Parsimony, Bayesian and Maximum likelihood analyses, and also for coalescent based species delimitations (BP&P), as well as for bPTP, PhyloMap, Topo-phylogenetic and Geophylogenetic reconstructions. According to our studies, seven species can be considered in the genus: B. rhacodes and B. angolensis are maintained, B. usambarensis and B. toribiotalpaensis are reassessed, and three new species are proposed, B. baturitensis Melanda, M.P. Martín & Baseia, sp. nov., B. crucis-hellenicae G. Coelho, Sulzbacher, Grebenc & Cortez, sp. nov., and B. heroica Melanda, Baseia & M.P. Martín, sp. nov. Blumenavia rhacodes is typified by selecting a lectotype and an epitype. Macromorphological characters considered informative to segregate and delimit the species through integrative taxonomy include length of the basidiomata, color, width and presence of grooves on each arm as well as the glebifer position and shape. These must be clearly observed while the basidiomata are still fresh. Since most materials are usually analyzed after dehydration and deposit in collections, field techniques and protocols to describe fugacious characters from fresh specimen are demanded, as well as the use of molecular analysis, in order to better assess recognition and delimitation of species in Blumenavia.

Dataset Information

Hidden cellulases in termites: revision of an old hypothesis.

Publications

Hidden cellulases in termites: revision of an old hypothesis.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets