Roles of Verrucomicrobia in lower termite hindgut

Layers of Symbiosis - Visualizing the Termite Hindgut Microbial Community

Jared Leadbetter takes us for a nature walk through the diversity of life resident in the termite hindgut--a microenvironment containing 250 different species found nowhere else on Earth. Jared reveals that the symbiosis exhibited by this system is multi-layered and involves not only a relationship between the termite and its gut inhabitants, but also involves a complex web of symbiosis among t...

Community Analysis of Hindgut Methanogens in Worker versus Soldier Cast Members of the Lower Termite Species, Reticulitermes flavipes

Application of termite hindgut metagenome derived carboxyl ester hydrolases in the modification of cephalosporin substrates

In the pharmaceutical industry, de-acetylated cephalosporins are highly valuable starting materials for producing semi-synthetic β-lactam antibiotics. In this study a fosmid metagenome library from termite hindgut symbionts was screened for carboxyl ester hydrolases capable of de-acetylating cephalosporins. Recombinant Escherichia coli clones with esterolytic phenotypes on tributyrin agar plate...

Phylogenetic diversity of symbiotic methanogens living in the hindgut of the lower termite Reticulitermes speratus analyzed by PCR and in situ hybridization.

A phylogenetic analysis of the sequences of 60 clones of archaeal small-subunit rRNA genes amplified from the termite Reticulitermes speratus revealed that most of them (56 clones) clustered in the genus Methanobrevibacter. Three clones were classified in the order Thermoplasmales. The Methanobrevibacter-related symbionts were detected by in situ hybridization analysis.

Spirochaeta coccoides sp. nov., a novel coccoid spirochete from the hindgut of the termite Neotermes castaneus.

A novel spirochete strain, SPN1, was isolated from the hindgut contents of the termite Neotermes castaneus. The highest similarities (about 90%) of the strain SPN1 16S rRNA gene sequence are with spirochetes belonging to the genus Spirochaeta, and thus, the isolate could not be assigned to the so-called termite clusters of the treponemes or to a known species of the genus Spirochaeta. Therefore...