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Appl. Environ. Microbiol. doi:10.1128/AEM.02616-06
Copyright (c) 2007, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.

DIFFERENCES IN BACTERIAL COMMUNITIES BETWEEN THE GUT OF A SOIL-FEEDING TERMITE (CUBITERMES NIOKOLOENSIS) AND ITS MOUNDS

Laboratoire d'Ecologie Microbienne des Sols Tropicaux, IRD-ISRA, BP 1386, Dakar Sénégal; Laboratoire de Microbiologie Université de Neuchâtel, Case Postale 2, CH-2007 Neuchâtel, Switzerland; Unité de recherche SeqBio, IRD, SupAgro, 2 place Pierre Viala, 34060, Montpellier Cedex 1

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: Alain.Brauman{at}ird.fr.

	Abstract

In tropical ecosystems, termite mounds constitute an important soil compartment covering around 10% of African soils. Previous studies have shown (Fall, S., S. Nazaret, J. L. Chotte, and A. Brauman. Microb. Ecol. 28:191-199, 2004) that the bacterial genetic structure of the mounds of soil feeding termites (C. niokoloensis) is different from their surrounding soil. The aim of this study was to characterize the specificity of bacterial communities within mounds with respect to the digestive and soil origins of the mound. We have compared the bacterial community structure of a termite mound, termite gut sections and surrounding soil using PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis and cloning and sequencing of PCR-amplified 16S rRNA gene fragments. DGGE analysis revealed a drastic difference in the genetic structure of the bacterial community between the termite gut and the mound. Analysis of 266 clones, including 54 from excised bands, revealed a high level of diversity in each biota investigated. The soil feeding termite mound was dominated by the Actinobacteria phylum whereas the Firmicutes and Proteobacteria phyla dominate the gut sections of termites and surrounding soil, respectively. Phylogenetic analyses revealed a distinct clustering of Actinobacteria phylotypes between the mound and the surrounding soil. The Actinobacteria clones of the termite mound were diverse, distributed among 10 distinct families and, like those in the termite gut environment, lightly dominated by Nocardiodaceae families. Our findings confirmed that soil feeding termite mound (C. niokoloensis) represents a specific bacterial habitat in tropics.