Journal
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
Volume 7, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
FRONTIERS MEDIA SA
DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2016.01993
Keywords
macrotermitinae; Macrotermes; nitrogenase; nifH; Odontotermes; symbiosis
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Funding
- EU-Marie Curie grant [300584 GUTS FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IEF]
- Villum Kann Rasmussen Young Investigator Program [10101]
- Villum Fonden [00010101] Funding Source: researchfish
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Termites host a gut microbiota of diverse and essential symbionts that enable specialization on dead plant material; an abundant, but nutritionally imbalanced food source. To supplement the severe shortage of dietary nitrogen (N), some termite species make use of diazotrophic bacteria to fix atmospheric nitrogen (N-2). Fungus-growing termites (subfamily Macrotermitinae) host a fungal exosymbiont (genus Termitomyces) that provides digestive services and the main food source for the termites. This has been thought to obviate the need for N2-fixation by bacterial symbionts. Here, we challenge this notion by performing acetylene reduction assays of live colony material to show that N-2 fixation is present in two major genera (Macrotermes and Odontotermes) of fungus-growing termites. We compare and discuss fixation rates in relation to those obtained from other termites, and suggest avenues of research that may lead to a better understanding of N-2 fixation in fungus-growing and other termites.
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