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Metagenomic and functional analysis of hindgut microbiota of a wood-feeding higher termite

Author

Listed:
  • Falk Warnecke

    (DOE Joint Genome Institute, 2800 Mitchell Drive, Walnut Creek, California 94598, USA)

  • Peter Luginbühl

    (Verenium Corporation (formerly Diversa), 4955 Directors Place, San Diego, California 92121, USA)

  • Natalia Ivanova

    (DOE Joint Genome Institute, 2800 Mitchell Drive, Walnut Creek, California 94598, USA)

  • Majid Ghassemian

    (Verenium Corporation (formerly Diversa), 4955 Directors Place, San Diego, California 92121, USA)

  • Toby H. Richardson

    (Verenium Corporation (formerly Diversa), 4955 Directors Place, San Diego, California 92121, USA
    Present addresses: Synthetic Genomics, Inc., 11149 North Torrey Pines Road, Suite 100, La Jolla, California 92037, USA (T.H.R., E.J.M.); Max Planck Institute for Computer Science, Stuhlsatzenhausweg 85, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany (A.C.M.).)

  • Justin T. Stege

    (Verenium Corporation (formerly Diversa), 4955 Directors Place, San Diego, California 92121, USA)

  • Michelle Cayouette

    (Verenium Corporation (formerly Diversa), 4955 Directors Place, San Diego, California 92121, USA)

  • Alice C. McHardy

    (IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, PO Box 218, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598, USA
    Present addresses: Synthetic Genomics, Inc., 11149 North Torrey Pines Road, Suite 100, La Jolla, California 92037, USA (T.H.R., E.J.M.); Max Planck Institute for Computer Science, Stuhlsatzenhausweg 85, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany (A.C.M.).)

  • Gordana Djordjevic

    (Verenium Corporation (formerly Diversa), 4955 Directors Place, San Diego, California 92121, USA)

  • Nahla Aboushadi

    (Verenium Corporation (formerly Diversa), 4955 Directors Place, San Diego, California 92121, USA)

  • Rotem Sorek

    (DOE Joint Genome Institute, 2800 Mitchell Drive, Walnut Creek, California 94598, USA)

  • Susannah G. Tringe

    (DOE Joint Genome Institute, 2800 Mitchell Drive, Walnut Creek, California 94598, USA)

  • Mircea Podar

    (Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6026, USA)

  • Hector Garcia Martin

    (DOE Joint Genome Institute, 2800 Mitchell Drive, Walnut Creek, California 94598, USA)

  • Victor Kunin

    (DOE Joint Genome Institute, 2800 Mitchell Drive, Walnut Creek, California 94598, USA)

  • Daniel Dalevi

    (DOE Joint Genome Institute, 2800 Mitchell Drive, Walnut Creek, California 94598, USA)

  • Julita Madejska

    (DOE Joint Genome Institute, 2800 Mitchell Drive, Walnut Creek, California 94598, USA)

  • Edward Kirton

    (DOE Joint Genome Institute, 2800 Mitchell Drive, Walnut Creek, California 94598, USA)

  • Darren Platt

    (DOE Joint Genome Institute, 2800 Mitchell Drive, Walnut Creek, California 94598, USA)

  • Ernest Szeto

    (DOE Joint Genome Institute, 2800 Mitchell Drive, Walnut Creek, California 94598, USA)

  • Asaf Salamov

    (DOE Joint Genome Institute, 2800 Mitchell Drive, Walnut Creek, California 94598, USA)

  • Kerrie Barry

    (DOE Joint Genome Institute, 2800 Mitchell Drive, Walnut Creek, California 94598, USA)

  • Natalia Mikhailova

    (DOE Joint Genome Institute, 2800 Mitchell Drive, Walnut Creek, California 94598, USA)

  • Nikos C. Kyrpides

    (DOE Joint Genome Institute, 2800 Mitchell Drive, Walnut Creek, California 94598, USA)

  • Eric G. Matson

    (Department of Environmental Science and Engineering,)

  • Elizabeth A. Ottesen

    (Mailcode 138-78, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA)

  • Xinning Zhang

    (Department of Environmental Science and Engineering,)

  • Myriam Hernández

    (INBio, Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad)

  • Catalina Murillo

    (INBio, Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad)

  • Luis G. Acosta

    (INBio, Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad)

  • Isidore Rigoutsos

    (IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, PO Box 218, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598, USA)

  • Giselle Tamayo

    (INBio, Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad)

  • Brian D. Green

    (Verenium Corporation (formerly Diversa), 4955 Directors Place, San Diego, California 92121, USA)

  • Cathy Chang

    (Verenium Corporation (formerly Diversa), 4955 Directors Place, San Diego, California 92121, USA)

  • Edward M. Rubin

    (DOE Joint Genome Institute, 2800 Mitchell Drive, Walnut Creek, California 94598, USA)

  • Eric J. Mathur

    (Verenium Corporation (formerly Diversa), 4955 Directors Place, San Diego, California 92121, USA
    Present addresses: Synthetic Genomics, Inc., 11149 North Torrey Pines Road, Suite 100, La Jolla, California 92037, USA (T.H.R., E.J.M.); Max Planck Institute for Computer Science, Stuhlsatzenhausweg 85, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany (A.C.M.).)

  • Dan E. Robertson

    (Verenium Corporation (formerly Diversa), 4955 Directors Place, San Diego, California 92121, USA)

  • Philip Hugenholtz

    (DOE Joint Genome Institute, 2800 Mitchell Drive, Walnut Creek, California 94598, USA)

  • Jared R. Leadbetter

    (Department of Environmental Science and Engineering,)

Abstract

Termites turn to wood Wood-feeding higher termites are a very successful group, important in facilitating carbon turnover in the environment. It is not the termites themselves that perform the key reactions that makes their lifestyle possible, but the lignocellulase-degrading symbiotic bacteria found in their hindgut. A metagenomic analysis of gut microbes from over 150 tree-living termites from a Costa Rican rainforest has revealed a diverse range of bacterial cellulase and xylan hydrolase genes, as well as genes important in other symbiotic functions. The data set includes about 1,000 bacterial lignocellulose hydrolase enzymes, some of them expressed in situ, in living termites. This work shows that termites are a rich reservoir of bacterial enzymes that might be used in the conversion of woody material into biofuels.

Suggested Citation

  • Falk Warnecke & Peter Luginbühl & Natalia Ivanova & Majid Ghassemian & Toby H. Richardson & Justin T. Stege & Michelle Cayouette & Alice C. McHardy & Gordana Djordjevic & Nahla Aboushadi & Rotem Sorek, 2007. "Metagenomic and functional analysis of hindgut microbiota of a wood-feeding higher termite," Nature, Nature, vol. 450(7169), pages 560-565, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:450:y:2007:i:7169:d:10.1038_nature06269
    DOI: 10.1038/nature06269
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    Cited by:

    1. Wenjie Pan & Xuan Wang & Chunhua Ren & Xiao Jiang & Sanqiang Gong & Zhenyu Xie & Nai-Kei Wong & Xiaomin Li & Jiasheng Huang & Dingding Fan & Peng Luo & Yun Yang & Xinyue Ren & Suzhong Yu & Zhou Qin & , 2024. "Sea cucumbers and their symbiotic microbiome have evolved to feed on seabed sediments," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-14, December.
    2. Awasthi, Mukesh Kumar & Sarsaiya, Surendra & Patel, Anil & Juneja, Ankita & Singh, Rajendra Prasad & Yan, Binghua & Awasthi, Sanjeev Kumar & Jain, Archana & Liu, Tao & Duan, Yumin & Pandey, Ashok & Zh, 2020. "Refining biomass residues for sustainable energy and bio-products: An assessment of technology, its importance, and strategic applications in circular bio-economy," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).

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