title: Influence of the diet components on the symbiotic microorganisms community in hindgut of Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki.
abstract: Artificial diet was developed for rearing of lower termites (workers) Coptotermes formosanus. C. formosanus was fed with either wood powder of Japanese red pine, cellulose, cellobiose, or glucose for 30 days. The effect of carbon sources in the diet on the structure and function of the symbiotic intestinal microbial community and on the physiological activity of C. formosanus was studied. Three symbiont protozoa, Pseudotrichonympha grassi, Holomastigotoides hartmanni, and Spirotrichonympha leidyi, were found in the hindgut of C. formosanus that fed on the diets containing carbon sources with high molecular weight (MW). However, when artificial diets containing carbohydrate with low MW were used, both P. grassi and H. hartmanni disappeared, and only few S. leidyi were alive. This suggested that both P. grassi and H. hartmanni play important roles in the digestion and utilization of carbohydrate with high MW. The denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis of bacterial community in the hindgut of termites showed that the similarity between intestinal bacteria community in termites fed with diets containing high-MW carbon sources and those with low MW was only about 40%. It was apparent that changes in diets resulted to changes in intestinal microbial community, and this in turn affected cellulase activity in C. formosanus.
authors.affiliation: Life Science and Bioengineering, Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8572, Japan.
authors.forename: Hideo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Aoyagi
authors.forename: Shunsuke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shiina
authors.forename: Syunsuke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shina
authors.forename: Yuri
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Doudou
authors.forename: Yuri
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Dodo
authors.forename: Tsuyoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yoshimura
authors.forename: Ryosuke
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Hiroo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Uchiyama
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D001483:Base Sequence; D002475:Cellobiose / Q000494:pharmacology; D002480:Cellulase / Q000378:metabolism; D002482:Cellulose / Q000494:pharmacology; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004032:Diet; D004064:Digestive System / Q000187:drug effects / Q000382:microbiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D017753:Ecosystem; D056890:Eukaryota / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development*; D005947:Glucose / Q000494:pharmacology; D020049:Isoptera / Q000187:drug effects / Q000382:microbiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D013559:Symbiosis
chemical_list: D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D002475:Cellobiose; D002482:Cellulose; D002480:Cellulase; D005947:Glucose