2009年5月15日 · Out of its wounded abdomen spilled a range of protozoa, which even then were providing a key function for the termite – they helped it to digest wood. Between animals and microorganisms, this...

2025年1月3日 · Termites have a mutualistic relationship with protozoa that live in the insect’s gut. Only Cryptocercus and lower termites have a collaborative relationship with flagellates for lignocellulose digestion. The flagellates and their prokaryotic symbionts orchestrate a microbial feeding chain driven by the termite.

2021年9月28日 · Termite can be classified into higher termites (belonging to the family Termitidae) and lower termites (all termite families except the Termitidae) with the absence or presence of flagellated protozoan, respectively in their gut. Termites associate themselves with various microorganisms that help them in carrying out their basic life functions.

2025年1月5日 · Termites, members of the Macrotermitinae subfamily, have a unique symbiotic relationship with microorganisms called protozoa that live in their gut. These protists, which consist of just one single, microscopic cell, play a crucial role in …

2020年2月5日 · Lower termites, as well as their sister group, the subsocial wood-feeding cockroach Cryptocercus, rely on flagellated eukaryotic symbionts in the hindgut to cooperatively digest their wood diet.

In general, closely related termites tend to harbour closely related protists, and deep-branching termites tend to harbour deep-branching protists, reflecting their broad-scale co-diversification. A closer view, however, reveals a complex distribution of protist lineages across hosts.

2025年1月10日 · Termites have a mutualistic relationship with protozoa that live in the insect's gut, and the termite benefits from the ability of bacterial symbionts within the protozoa to digest cellulose.

Breznak JA (1983) Biochemical aspects of symbiosis between termites and their intestinal microbiota. In: Anderson JM, Rayner ADM, Walton D (eds) Invertebrate microbial interactions. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 173–203. Breznak JA, Brune A (1994) Role of microorganisms in the digestion of lignocellulose by termites.

Symbiosis between Termites and Their Intestinal Protozoa 1 L R Cleveland 1 Department of Medical Zoölogy, School of Hygiene and Public Health, Johns Hopkins University

Lignocellulose digestion by wood-feeding termites depends on the mutualistic interaction of unusual, flagellate protists located in their hindgut. Most of the flagellates harbor numerous prokaryotic endosymbionts of so-far-unknown identity and function.