State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Microbial Technology Institute, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, Shandong, China.
Sci Rep. 2021 Jan 13;11(1):989. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-79671-7.
Macrotermes barneyi, widely distributed in southern China, is the major fungus-growing termite in the subfamily Macrotermitinae. It has no flagellated protists in the guts. Here, we report occurrence of gregarine, a protozoan parasite in the digestive tract of M. barneyi. The general morphology and ultrastructure of the gregarine gamonts and syzygies by light micrograph and scanning electron micrograph are presented. SSU rDNA sequence analysis showed that the termite gregarine has the highest identity (90.10%) to that of Gregarina blattarum from cockroaches. Phylogenetic analysis based on the SSU rDNA sequences from diverse insect eugregarines indicated that the gregarine from M. barneyi is phylogenetically close to G. blattarus, L. erratica and G. tropica from Gregarinidae and Leidyanidae families, and may represent a novel species. This study expands our knowledge about the diversity of terrestrial eugregarines parasitizing in termites.
广泛分布于中国南方的 Barney 拟澳白蚁是澳白蚁亚科中主要的真菌养殖白蚁。它的肠道中没有鞭毛原生动物。在这里，我们报告了在 Barney 拟澳白蚁消化道中出现的原生动物寄生原虫-球虫。通过光镜和扫描电子显微镜观察了球虫滋养体和合子的一般形态和超微结构。SSU rDNA 序列分析表明，白蚁球虫与来自蟑螂的 Blattarum 球虫的同源性最高（90.10%）。基于来自不同昆虫真球虫的 SSU rDNA 序列的系统发育分析表明，来自 Barney 拟澳白蚁的球虫与真球虫科和 Leidyanidae 家族的 Blattarum、L. erratica 和 G. tropica 在系统发育上关系密切，可能代表一个新种。本研究扩展了我们对寄生在白蚁中的陆地真球虫多样性的认识。
