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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, July 2004, p. 3884-3892, Vol. 70, No. 7
0099-2240/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.7.3884-3892.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Comparison of Euryarchaea Strains in the Guts and Food-Soil of the Soil-Feeding Termite Cubitermes fungifaber across Different Soil Types

S. E. Donovan,^1, K. J. Purdy,^2* M. D. Kane,³ and P. Eggleton¹

Department of Entomology, Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD,¹ School of Animal and Microbial Sciences, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6AJ, United Kingdom,² Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, National Science Foundation, Arlington, Virginia 22230³

Received 8 December 2003/ Accepted 8 March 2004

Termites are an important component of tropical soil communities and have a significant effect on the structure and nutrient content of soil. Digestion in termites is related to gut structure, gut physicochemical conditions, and gut symbiotic microbiota. Here we describe the use of 16S rRNA gene sequencing and terminal-restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis to examine methanogenic archaea (MA) in the guts and food-soil of the soil-feeder Cubitermes fungifaber Sjostedt across a range of soil types. If these MA are strictly vertically inherited, then the MA in guts should be the same in all individuals even if the soils differ across sites. In contrast, gut MA should reflect what is present in soil if populations are merely a reflection of what is ingested as the insects forage. We show clear differences between the euryarchaeal communities in termite guts and in food-soils from five different sites. Analysis of 16S rRNA gene clones indicated little overlap between the gut and soil communities. Gut clones were related to a termite-derived Methanomicrobiales cluster, to Methanobrevibacter and, surprisingly, to the haloalkaliphile Natronococcus. Soil clones clustered with Methanosarcina, Methanomicrococcus, or rice cluster I. T-RFLP analysis indicated that the archaeal communities in the soil samples differed from site to site, whereas those in termite guts were similar between sites. There was some overlap between the gut and soil communities, but these may represent transient populations in either guts or soil. Our data do not support the hypothesis that termite gut MA are derived from their food-soil but also do not support a purely vertical transmission of gut microflora.

Present address: Seale-Hayne, School of Biological Sciences, University of Plymouth, Newton Abbot, Devon TQ12 6NQ, United Kingdom.

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