白蚁共生放线菌研究进展

白蚁与微生物的共生关系是目前较受关注的研究热点,其肠道及巢内的共生微生物在降解木质纤维素的过程中扮演着重要的角色。放线菌是这些共生微生物中的重要一类,广泛存在于肠道、蚁巢及其周围土壤中,目前已探明共生放线菌在参与白蚁碳氮循环及保护巢群免受外来病菌侵染等方面发挥着极大的作用。近年来,人们利用分子生物学技术鉴定了部分共生放线菌的类群,发现了许多具应用前景的新放线菌及相关酶和代谢产物。因此,研究与白蚁相关的放线菌不仅有助于人们了解白蚁共生菌群落间的互作及其与宿主间的关系,而且对人类开发自然资源也有较大的帮助。本文对白蚁共生放线菌的研究进展作一综述,供同行参考。

Advance on the study of termite symbiotic actinomycete

The symbiotic relationship between termites and microorganisms has been a research focus at present. The hindgut and nest of termites are colonized by dense prokaryotes (bacteria and archaea) and eukaryotic protists that play essential roles in both digestion and host nutrition. The actinomycetes are important kinds of these symbiotic microorganisms, widely existing in the gut and the nest of termites and their surrounding soil. Recently, it has been found that the symbiotic actinomycetes play important roles in the cycles of carbon and nitrogen in termites, and protect termites from pathogensIn past years, many actinomycetes have been identified with molecular biology techniques, and parts of the actinomycetes have great prospective in applicationsIn addition, many related enzymes and metabolites from the actinomycetes have also been found. Thus, the research on symbiotic actinomycetes is helpful not only to understand the interaction among microbial communities and the relationship between termites and symbionts, but also to find more new active natural products. This paper reviewed the advance on the study of termites symbiotic actinomycetes.