Gut microbial compositions mirror caste-specific diets in a major lineage of social insects.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Otani S
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6850719 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Gut microbial compositions mirror caste-specific diets in a major lineage of social insects.
Otani Saria S Zhukova Mariya M Koné N'golo Abdoulaye NA da Costa Rafael Rodrigues RR Mikaelyan Aram A Sapountzis Panagiotis P Poulsen Michael M
Environmental microbiology reports 20190108 2
Social insects owe their ecological success to the division of labour between castes, but associations between microbial community compositions and castes with different tasks and diets have not been extensively explored. Fungus-growing termites associate with fungi to degrade plant material, complemented by diverse gut microbial communities. Here, we explore whether division of labour and accompanying dietary differences between fungus-growing termite castes are linked to gut bacterial communit ...[more]
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