RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Gut microbial compositions mirror caste-specific diets in a major lineage of eusocial insects
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 418954
DO 10.1101/418954
A1 Saria Otani
A1 Mariya Zhukova
A1 N’golo Abdoulaye Koné
A1 Rafael Rodrigues da Costa
A1 Aram Mikaelyan
A1 Panagiotis Sapountzis
A1 Michael Poulsen
YR 2018
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/09/16/418954.abstract
AB Eusocial insects owe their ecological success to the division of labour and processes within colonies often rely on the presence of specific microbial symbionts, but associations between microbial community compositions and castes with different tasks and diets within colonies remain largely unexplored. Fungus-growing termites evolved to use fungi to externally degrade plant material, complemented by specific and complex gut microbiotas. Here we explore to which extent division of labour and dietary differences within fungus-growing termite castes are linked to gut bacterial community structure. Using amplicon sequencing, we characterise community compositions in sterile (worker and soldier) and reproductive (queen and king) termites and combine this with gut enzyme, microscopy, and in situ analyses to further elucidate sterile caste-specific microbiota compositions. Gut bacterial communities are structured primarily according to termite caste and genus. In contrast to the observed rich and diverse sterile caste microbiotas, royal pair microbiotas are extremely skewed and dominated by few bacterial taxa, reflecting the specialised dietary intake and unique, reproduction-centred lifestyle of the queen and king.