Molecular diversity and host specificity of termite-associated <i>Xylaria</i>

Guedegbe, Herbert J.; Miambi, Edouard; Pando, Anne; Houngnandan, Pascal; Rouland-Lefèvre, Corinne

doi:10.3852/08-182

Cited by 23 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…There are two aspects of fungal diversity on termite mounds, namely, the presence of Termitomyces versus other fungi such as Xylaria/or Pseudoxylaria species [14], [17]–[20], [48] and the diversity within Termitomyces species. However, literature indicates that fungal gardens are maintained as monocultures of Termitomyces species [14], [49], [50].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…colonize termite nests once termites abandon their mounds [14], [16]. Numerous Xylaria species are associated to termite mounds even though their ecological role remains unclear [17]–[20]. The foraging behavior of the termites during establishment and renewal of their fungus gardens exposes the termites to other contaminants (fungi and bacteria), which may be introduced into the gardens or reside in the termite guts, hence becoming part of the fungal diversity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Diversity of Termitomyces Associated with Fungus-Farming Termites Assessed by Cultural and Culture-Independent Methods

et al. 2013

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BackgroundFungus-cultivating termites make use of an obligate mutualism with fungi from the genus Termitomyces, which are acquired through either vertical transmission via reproductive alates or horizontally transmitted during the formation of new mounds. Termitomyces taxonomy, and thus estimating diversity and host specificity of these fungi, is challenging because fruiting bodies are rarely found. Molecular techniques can be applied but need not necessarily yield the same outcome than morphological identification.MethodologyCulture-dependent and culture-independent methods were used to comprehensively assess host specificity and gut fungal diversity. Termites were identified using mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase II (COII) genes. Twenty-three Termitomyces cultures were isolated from fungal combs. Internal transcribed spacer (ITS) clone libraries were constructed from termite guts. Presence of Termitomyces was confirmed using specific and universal primers. Termitomyces species boundaries were estimated by cross-comparison of macromorphological and sequence features, and ITS clustering parameters accordingly optimized. The overall trends in coverage of Termitomyces diversity and host associations were estimated using Genbank data.Results and ConclusionResults indicate a monoculture of Termitomyces in the guts as well as the isolation sources (fungal combs). However, cases of more than one Termitomyces strains per mound were observed since mounds can contain different termite colonies. The newly found cultures, as well as the clustering analysis of GenBank data indicate that there are on average between one and two host genera per Termitomyces species. Saturation does not appear to have been reached, neither for the total number of known Termitomyces species nor for the number of Termitomyces species per host taxon, nor for the number of known hosts per Termitomyces species. Considering the rarity of Termitomyces fruiting bodies, it is suggested to base the future taxonomy of the group mainly on well-characterized and publicly accessible cultures.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversity of Termitomyces Associated with Fungus-Farming Termites Assessed by Cultural and Culture-Independent Methods

et al. 2013

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“…The biodiversity of xylariaceous endophytes was evaluated as the richness of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) examined with phylogenetic analysis of the nucleotide sequence of the D1/D2 region of the LSU rDNA of fungal isolates. Fungi in Xylariaceae have been extensively subjected to molecular phylogenetic analysis (i.e., Lee et al 2000;Davis et al 2003;Okane et al 2008;Peláez et al 2008;Guedegbe et al 2009) and are suitable for molecular identification of fungal isolates obtained from live and dead leaves of different host trees.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversity and ubiquity of xylariaceous endophytes in live and dead leaves of temperate forest trees

2013

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To test the hypothesis that xylariaceous endophytes were ubiquitous on live and dead leaves of various tree species in the field, xylariaceous fungi were isolated from live leaves and bleached and nonbleached portions of dead leaves of a total of 94 tree species in a cool temperate forest in Japan. The biodiversity of xylariaceous endophytes was evaluated as the richness of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) determined by phylogenetic analysis of the nucleotide sequence of the D1/D2 region of the LSU rDNA of fungal isolates. A total of 326 isolates of xylariaceous fungi were isolated from live and dead leaves and classified into 15 OTUs. The three major OTUs, Xylaria sp.1, Nemania sp., and Biscogniauxia sp., accounted for 94% (308 isolates) of the total number of isolates, and were isolated from various live and dead leaves. Xylaria sp.1 was frequently encountered on bleached portions (which were produced due to the selective decomposition of lignin) of dead leaves of broad-leaved deciduous tree species. The results suggest that xylariaceous endophytes did not show host specificity and had a saprobic phase on dead leaves in their life cycles and that Xylaria sp.1 was capable of decomposing lignin in the field conditions.

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“…Termites and their mounds harbor diverse organisms including fungi. There are two aspects of fungal diversity on termite mounds, namely, the presence of Termitomyces versus other fungi such as Xylaria/ or Pseudoxylaria species (Moriya et al, 2005;Okane and Nakagiri, 2007;Ju and Hsieh, 2007;Guedegbe et al, 2009;Visser et al, 2009;2012) and the diversity within Termitomyces species.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fungal diversity and community structure in gut, mound and surrounding soil of fungus-cultivating termites

Makonde¹,

Mwirichia²,

Muwawa³

et al. 2017

Afr. J. Microbiol. Res.

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The fungus-cultivating termites (Macrotermitinae) form part of diverse termite fauna in Africa, but information on their fungal symbionts is inadequate and poorly understood. In this study, the fungal communities and structure between termite gut, mound and surrounding soil were determined using the 454 pyrosequencing-based analysis of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) gene sequences. Genomic DNA was extracted and purified from the guts of three termites (Odontotermes sp., Macrotermes michaelseni and Microtermes sp.), mound and surrounding soil samples for highthroughput sequencing. A total of 15,256 sequences were obtained and individual samples contained between 4 and 133 operational taxonomic units (OTUs). Termite gut had the least fungal diversity, dominated by members of the Basidiomycota (> 98%). More than 98% of the gut sequences were of the genus Termitomyces, while < 2% were related to the genera Chaetomium, Fusarium, Eupenicillium, Cladosporium, Curreya and Phaeosphaeria with between 95 and 98% pair-wise sequence identities. Members of Ascomycota (> 94%) were the most abundant in the mound and soil, but significantly differed (P value of 0.04; R value = 0.909) between the mound and soil environments. The results confirm that the genus Termitomyces exist in a tight association with their hosts and that Termitomyces species are scarcely present in the mound and soil. In addition, by altering soil properties; the fungus-cultivating termites modify the fungal community composition and structure in the mound and surrounding soil environments.

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Molecular diversity and host specificity of termite-associated Xylaria

Cited by 23 publications

References 31 publications

Diversity of Termitomyces Associated with Fungus-Farming Termites Assessed by Cultural and Culture-Independent Methods

Diversity of Termitomyces Associated with Fungus-Farming Termites Assessed by Cultural and Culture-Independent Methods

Diversity and ubiquity of xylariaceous endophytes in live and dead leaves of temperate forest trees

Fungal diversity and community structure in gut, mound and surrounding soil of fungus-cultivating termites

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