Bugs in Bugs: The Microbial Diversity of the Termite Gut

摘要

The Formosan subterranean termite, Coptotermesformosanus Shiraki (Isoptera: Rhino-termitidae), is an invasive pest species that causes billions of dollars worldwide in economic damage, especially in the southeastern United States and the Pacific Rim.The survival of this termite is dependent on its microbial gut community (Eutick et al. 1978). The gut flora consists of three species of protists and an unknown number of bacteria species, which play a key role in physiology, nutrition and gut ecology of the termite host (Lai et al. 1983, Bignell 2000). Because C. formosanus depends on its gut flora for survival, alternative termite control strategies could be devised using the gut flora of termites as tools and targets for termite control. However, before such strategies can be developed, detailed knowledge about the microbial diversity in the termite gut is sorely needed.