Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Int Microbiol. 2011 Jun;14(2):83-93. doi: 10.2436/20.1501.01.138.
The bacterial microbiota from the whole gut of soldier and worker castes of the termite Reticulitermes grassei was isolated and studied. In addition, the 16S rDNA bacterial genes from gut DNA were PCR-amplified using Bacteria-selective primers, and the 16S rDNA amplicons subsequently cloned into Escherichia coli. Sequences of the cloned inserts were then used to determine closest relatives by comparison with published sequences and with sequences from our previous work. The clones were found to be affiliated with the phyla Spirochaetes, Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, Synergistetes, Verrucomicrobia, and candidate phyla Termite Group 1 (TG1) and Termite Group 2 (TG2). No significant differences were observed with respect to the relative bacterial abundances between soldier and worker phylotypes. The phylotypes obtained in this study were compared with reported sequences from other termites, especially those of phylotypes related to Spirochaetes, Wolbachia (an Alphaproteobacteria), Actinobacteria, and TG1. Many of the clone phylotypes detected in soldiers grouped with those of workers. Moreover, clones CRgS91 (soldiers) and CRgW68 (workers), both affiliated with 'Endomicrobia', were the same phylotype. Soldiers and workers also seemed to have similar relative protist abundances. Heterotrophic, poly-β-hydroxyalkanoate-accumulating bacteria were isolated from the gut of soldiers and shown to be affiliated with Actinobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria. We noted that Wolbachia was detected in soldiers but not in workers. Overall, the maintenance by soldiers and workers of comparable axial and radial redox gradients in the gut is consistent with the similarities in the prokaryotes and protists comprising their microbiota.
对兵蚁和工蚁的整个肠道的细菌微生物群进行了分离和研究。此外，使用细菌选择性引物对肠道 DNA 中的 16S rDNA 细菌基因进行了 PCR 扩增，随后将 16S rDNA 扩增子克隆到大肠杆菌中。然后，使用克隆插入物的序列通过与已发表的序列和我们之前工作中的序列进行比较来确定最接近的亲缘关系。发现克隆物与螺旋体门、变形菌门、厚壁菌门、拟杆菌门、放线菌门、互养菌门、疣微菌门以及候选门白蚁群 1（TG1）和白蚁群 2（TG2）有关。兵蚁和工蚁的相对细菌丰度之间没有观察到显著差异。本研究获得的类群与其他白蚁报告的序列进行了比较，特别是与螺旋体、沃尔巴克氏体（一种α变形菌）、放线菌和 TG1 相关的类群。在士兵中检测到的许多克隆类群与工蚁的类群聚在一起。此外，属于“内微生物”的克隆 CRgS91（士兵）和 CRgW68（工人）具有相同的类群。士兵和工人的原生动物相对丰度似乎也相似。从兵蚁肠道中分离出的异养、多聚-β-羟基烷酸积累细菌，与放线菌和γ变形菌有关。我们注意到，沃尔巴克氏体在士兵中被检测到，但在工蚁中未被检测到。总的来说，兵蚁和工蚁在肠道中维持相似的轴向和径向氧化还原梯度，这与构成它们微生物群的原核生物和原生动物的相似性一致。
