Analysis of Extensive [FeFe] Hydrogenase Gene Diversity Within the Gut Microbiota of Insects Representing Five Families of Dictyoptera |
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Authors: | Nicholas?R?Ballor Email author" target="_blank">Jared?R?LeadbetterEmail author |
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Institution: | (1) Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, California Institute of Technology, M/C 138-78, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA;(2) Ronald and Maxine Linde Center for Global Environmental Science, California Institute of Technology, M/C 138-78, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA; |
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Abstract: | We have designed and utilized degenerate primers in the phylogenetic analysis of FeFe] hydrogenase gene diversity in the
gut ecosystems of roaches and lower termites. H2 is an important free intermediate in the breakdown of wood by termite gut microbial communities, reaching concentrations
in some species exceeding those measured for any other biological system. The primers designed target with specificity the
largest group of enzymatic H domain proteins previously identified in a termite gut metagenome. “Family 3” hydrogenase sequences
were amplified from the guts of lower termites, Incisitermes minor, Zootermopsis nevadensis, and Reticulitermes hesperus, and two roaches, Cryptocercus punctulatus and Periplaneta americana. Subsequent analyses revealed that all termite and Cryptocercus sequences were phylogenetically distinct from non-termite-associated hydrogenases available from public databases. The abundance
of unique sequence operational taxonomic units (as many as 21 from each species) underscores the previously demonstrated physiological
importance of H2 to the gut ecosystems of these wood-feeding insects. The diversity of sequences observed might be reflective of multiple
niches that the enzymes have been evolved to accommodate. Sequences cloned from Cryptocercus and the lower termite samples, all of which are wood feeding insects, clustered closely with one another in phylogenetic
analyses to the exclusion of alleles from P. americana, an omnivorous cockroach, also cloned during this study. We present primers targeting a family of termite gut FeFe] hydrogenases
and provide results that are consistent with a pivotal role for hydrogen in the termite gut ecosystem and point toward unique
evolutionary adaptations to the gut ecosystem. |
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