title: Environmental cDNA analysis of the genes involved in lignocellulose digestion in the symbiotic protist community of Reticulitermes speratus.
abstract: To clarify the lignocellulolytic process of the lower termite symbiotic protistan system, we constructed a cDNA library from an as yet uncultivated symbiotic protist community of the lower termite Reticulitermes speratus. The library was constructed by the biotinylated CAP trapper method and analyzed by one-pass sequencing. Phylogenetic analysis of actin orthologs confirmed that the resulting library reflected the intact organismal and mRNA composition of the symbiotic system. The contents of the library included abundant numbers of lignocellulolytic genes of the glycosyl hydrolase family orthologs (families 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 26, 43, 45 and 62). Our results clearly indicated that a multiple family of glycosyl hydrolase enzymes was involved in the protistan cellulose degradation system. The data also suggested that the most extensively expressed enzyme was glycosyl hydrolase family 7, a cellobiohydrolase ortholog. This family of enzymes enables the degradation of crystalline cellulose, the principal component of wood biomass.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Environmental Molecular Biology, RIKEN, Saitama, Japan.
authors.forename: Nemuri
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Todaka
authors.forename: Shigeharu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Moriya
authors.forename: Kanako
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Saita
authors.forename: Tomoko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hondo
authors.forename: Isao
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kiuchi
authors.forename: Hirotoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takasu
authors.forename: Moriya
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ohkuma
authors.forename: Carninci
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Piero
authors.forename: Yoshihide
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hayashizaki
authors.forename: Toshiaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kudo
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002482:Cellulose / Q000378:metabolism*; D043366:Cellulose 1,4-beta-Cellobiosidase / Q000235:genetics; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000032:analysis; D056890:Eukaryota / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000502:physiology; D015723:Gene Library; D017125:Genes, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics; D020049:Isoptera / Q000469:parasitology*; D007564:Japan; D008031:Lignin / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D013559:Symbiosis
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; C036909:lignocellulose; D002482:Cellulose; D008031:Lignin; D043366:Cellulose 1,4-beta-Cellobiosidase