title: Phylogenetic analysis of cellulolytic enzyme genes from representative lineages of termites and a related cockroach.
abstract: The relationship between xylophagous termites and the protists resident in their hindguts is a textbook example of symbiosis. The essential steps of lignocellulose degradation handled by these protists allow the host termites to thrive on a wood diet. There has never been a comprehensive analysis of lignocellulose degradation by protists, however, as it has proven difficult to establish these symbionts in pure culture. The trends in lignocellulose degradation during the evolution of the host lineage are also largely unknown. To clarify these points without any cultivation technique, we performed meta-expressed sequence tag (EST) analysis of cDNA libraries originating from symbiotic protistan communities in four termite species and a wood-feeding cockroach. Our results reveal the establishment of a degradation system with multiple enzymes at the ancestral stage of termite-protistan symbiosis, especially GHF5 and 7. According to our phylogenetic analyses, the enzymes comprising the protistan lignocellulose degradation system are coded not only by genes innate to the protists, but also genes acquired by the protists via lateral transfer from bacteria. This gives us a fresh perspective from which to understand the evolutionary dynamics of symbiosis.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Environmental Molecular Biology, Graduate School of Yokohama City University, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan.
authors.forename: Nemuri
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Todaka
authors.forename: Tetsushi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: Kanako
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Saita
authors.forename: Moriya
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ohkuma
authors.forename: Christine A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Nalepa
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lenz
authors.forename: Toshiaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kudo
authors.forename: Shigeharu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Moriya
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D020134:Catalytic Domain; D002482:Cellulose / Q000378:metabolism*; D003058:Cockroaches / Q000201:enzymology*; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D004798:Enzymes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D020224:Expressed Sequence Tags; D020049:Isoptera / Q000201:enzymology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D004798:Enzymes; D002482:Cellulose