Physiological Role and Phylogenetic Diversity of Termite Gut Symbionts

白蚁肠道共生体的生理作用和系统发育多样性

• 批准号: 9709000
• 负责人: John Breznak
• 金额: $ 51.1万
• 依托单位: Michigan State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 1997
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1997-09-15 至 2001-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9709000&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Physiological; Role; Phylogenetic; Diversity; Termite

Breznak 9709000 Roughly 2000 species of termites degrade 1 billion tons annually of lignocellulosic plant material and residues derived from it (e.g. humus) and in doing so derive nutrition from some of earth's most abundant, but refractory and nitrogen-poor food resources. To accomplish this feat, they have evolved into spectacular symbioses with gut microorganisms representing all known domains of life on Earth -- Bacteria, methane-producing Archaea, and Eukarya (protozoa). Such microbes are important in: (i) nitrogen economy (via N2-fixation and excretory N-recycling); (ii) production of acetate (a major carbon and energy source for termites) from H2 + CO2; and (iii)production of digestive enzymes. Nevertheless, a lingering source of frustration has been an inability to culture (and thereby better understand) some of the major members of the termite gut community, ea. spirochetes. However, molecular biological tools now afford a means to probe the nature, number, physiological role(s), and phylogenetic diversity of termite gut microbes without the absolute requirement for cultivation. Accordingly, research in this project will integrate molecular biological approaches with biochemical and physiological studies to increase our understanding of termite gut spirochetes, as well as a variety of other microbes relevant to termite nutrition and vitality. It is expected that this research will continue to reveal termites as a rich reservoir of novel (and largely untapped) microbial diversity and a fruitful system for discovering new principles of microbial interactions.

布雷兹纳克9709000大约2,000种白蚁每年降解10亿万吨木质纤维植物材料和从中产生的残留物(例如腐殖质)，这样做可以从地球上一些最丰富、但耐火和缺氮的食物资源中获取营养。为了完成这一壮举，它们进化成了壮观的共生环境，肠道微生物代表了地球上所有已知的生命领域--细菌、产甲烷的古生菌和尤卡里亚(原生动物)。这些微生物在以下方面很重要：(I)氮素经济(通过氮气固定和排泄氮素循环)；(Ii)从H2+CO2生产乙酸酯(白蚁的主要碳源和能源)；以及(Iii)产生消化酶。然而，一个挥之不去的挫败源是无法培养(从而更好地理解)白蚁肠道群落的一些主要成员，EA。螺旋体。然而，分子生物学工具现在提供了一种手段来探索白蚁肠道微生物的性质、数量、生理作用(S)和系统发育多样性，而不需要绝对的培养。因此，该项目的研究将把分子生物学方法与生化和生理研究相结合，以增加我们对白蚁肠道螺旋体以及与白蚁营养和活力相关的各种其他微生物的了解。预计这项研究将继续揭示白蚁是新的(和很大程度上未开发的)微生物多样性的丰富储藏库，并是一个发现微生物相互作用新原理的富有成效的系统。