TY - JOUR
T1 - The parabasalid symbiont community of Heterotermes aureus
T2 - Molecular and morphological characterization of four new species and reestablishment of the genus Cononympha
AU - Jasso-Selles, Daniel E.
AU - De Martini, Francesca
AU - Freeman, Katalina D.
AU - Garcia, Mikaela D.
AU - Merrell, Trevor L.
AU - Scheffrahn, Rudolf H.
AU - Gile, Gillian
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank Adam Gile for assistance collecting H. aureus . This work was supported by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University (startup funding to GHG).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Elsevier GmbH
PY - 2017/10
Y1 - 2017/10
N2 - The subterranean termite Heterotermes aureus is endemic to arid regions of southwestern USA and northern Mexico. Like other termites in the family Rhinotermitidae, it harbors a community of protists (Phylum Parabasalia) in its hindgut that aid in cellulose digestion. We investigated the hindgut community of H. aureus using light microscopy, single cell isolation, and high throughput amplicon sequencing. Here we describe four new parabasalid species from the classes Trichonymphea and Spirotrichonymphea. Three of the new species include Pseudotrichonympha aurea (Trichonymphea), Holomastigotoides aureus, and Holomastigotoides oxyrhynchus (Spirotrichonymphea). The fourth new species is a Spirotrichonympha-like protist for which we reinstate the genus Cononympha and describe under the name Cononympha aurea (Spirotrichonymphea). We also used high throughput amplicon sequencing with custom primers on DNA from fresh and ethanol preserved termites collected across the southwest USA and Mexico to investigate population-level differences in hindgut community composition. We report that the community is highly similar across populations: no additional parabasalid species were identified in any of the H. aureus specimens, but several specimens appeared to lack either C. aurea or H. oxyrhynchus.
AB - The subterranean termite Heterotermes aureus is endemic to arid regions of southwestern USA and northern Mexico. Like other termites in the family Rhinotermitidae, it harbors a community of protists (Phylum Parabasalia) in its hindgut that aid in cellulose digestion. We investigated the hindgut community of H. aureus using light microscopy, single cell isolation, and high throughput amplicon sequencing. Here we describe four new parabasalid species from the classes Trichonymphea and Spirotrichonymphea. Three of the new species include Pseudotrichonympha aurea (Trichonymphea), Holomastigotoides aureus, and Holomastigotoides oxyrhynchus (Spirotrichonymphea). The fourth new species is a Spirotrichonympha-like protist for which we reinstate the genus Cononympha and describe under the name Cononympha aurea (Spirotrichonymphea). We also used high throughput amplicon sequencing with custom primers on DNA from fresh and ethanol preserved termites collected across the southwest USA and Mexico to investigate population-level differences in hindgut community composition. We report that the community is highly similar across populations: no additional parabasalid species were identified in any of the H. aureus specimens, but several specimens appeared to lack either C. aurea or H. oxyrhynchus.
KW - 18S amplicon sequencing
KW - Holomastigotoides
KW - Pseudotrichonympha
KW - Rhinotermitidae
KW - Spirotrichonympha
KW - Symbiosis
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U2 - 10.1016/j.ejop.2017.09.001
DO - 10.1016/j.ejop.2017.09.001
M3 - Article
C2 - 28942092
AN - SCOPUS:85029597272
SN - 0932-4739
VL - 61
SP - 48
EP - 63
JO - European Journal of Protistology
JF - European Journal of Protistology
ER -