2018
DOI: 10.1128/aem.01815-17
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Abstract: Fungus-growing termites rely on mutualistic fungi of the genus Termitomyces and gut microbes for plant biomass degradation. Due to a certain degree of symbiont complementarity, this tripartite symbiosis has evolved as a complex bioreactor, enabling decomposition of nearly any plant polymer, likely contributing to the success of the termites as one of the main plant decomposers in the Old World. In this study, we evaluated which plant polymers are decomposed and which enzymes are active during the decomposition… Show more

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Cited by 34 publications
(74 citation statements)
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“…To assess the culturable actinobacterial diversity, we chose three different sample origins (fresh fungus comb material and the termite worker exoskeleton and gut content) from eleven different M. natalensis termite colonies collected in South Africa ( Table S1 ). We focused on the isolation of Actinobacteria capable of living on cellulose or chitin as a sole C-source ( Figure 2 ), as these bacterial isolates are likely adapted to living within the cellulose-rich comb material [ 28 ]. Actinobacteria (97) with unique morphotypes were isolated from the termite gut (68), termite abdomen (13), and fungus comb material (16) ( Table 1 , Table S2 ).…”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…To assess the culturable actinobacterial diversity, we chose three different sample origins (fresh fungus comb material and the termite worker exoskeleton and gut content) from eleven different M. natalensis termite colonies collected in South Africa ( Table S1 ). We focused on the isolation of Actinobacteria capable of living on cellulose or chitin as a sole C-source ( Figure 2 ), as these bacterial isolates are likely adapted to living within the cellulose-rich comb material [ 28 ]. Actinobacteria (97) with unique morphotypes were isolated from the termite gut (68), termite abdomen (13), and fungus comb material (16) ( Table 1 , Table S2 ).…”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Termites can significantly decompose plant materials, and, through the process of decomposition, a significant amount of greenhouse gases are produced [79,80]. Ho et al [81] reported that termite-resultant methane adds roughly 3-4% to the entire global methane budget, and mound-building termites contribute less than 1% of the total global emission (although this amount depends on the type of mound-building termite species) [82].…”
Section: The Role Of Termite Mound Soil and Its Bacteria In Bioremedimentioning
confidence: 99%
“…This indicates that there are factors within a colony that trigger or prevent primordia formation. We observed that combs that carried primordia were relatively mature in the sense that their colour was light, which is an indication of lignin breakdown and thus substrate depletion (Hyodo et al 2000, da Costa et al 2018. Also, we observed the formation of primordia on a fungus comb that had been incubated without termites for 16 days and was thus nutritionally depleted.…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 68%
“…(Od127, Od128 and Od159), Odontotermes cf. badius (Od145, Od150 and Od151), and Macrotermes natalensis (Mn156, Mn160 and Mn162), for which the termite species had previously been determined (Table 1; Otani et al 2014, da Costa et al 2018. Mature, nodule-containing parts of the fungus comb were collected, placed into plastic bags and taken to the laboratory.…”
Section: Termite Collections and Fungal Isolationsmentioning
confidence: 99%
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