Abstract:
The termite gut microbiome is dominated by lignocellulose degrading
microorganisms. This study describes the intestinal microbiota of four Argentinian
higher termite species with different feeding habits: Microcerotermes strunckii
(hardwood), Nasutitermes corniger (softwood), Termes riograndensis (soil organic
matter/grass) and Cornitermes cumulans (grass) by deep sequencing of amplified
16S rRNA and ITS genes. In addition, we have performed a taxonomic and gut
community structure comparison incorporating into the analysis the previously
reported microbiomes of additional termite species with varied diets. The bacterial
phylum Spirochaetes was dominant in the guts of M. strunckii, N. corniger and
C. cumulans, whereas Firmicutes predominated in the T. riograndensis gut
microbiome. A single bacterial genus, Treponema (Spirochaetes), was dominant in all
termite species, except for T. riograndensis. Both in our own sequenced samples and
in the broader comparison, prokaryotic a-diversity was higher in the soil/grass
feeders than in the wood feeders. Meanwhile, the β-diversity of prokaryotes and
fungi was highly dissimilar among strict wood-feeders, whereas that of soil- and
grass-feeders grouped more closely. Ascomycota and Basidiomycota were the only
fungal phyla that could be identified in all gut samples, because of the lack of
reference sequences in public databases. In summary, higher microbial diversity was
recorded in termites with more versatile feeding sources, providing further evidence
that diet, along with other factors (e.g., host taxonomy), influences the microbial
community assembly in the termite gut.
