Abstract
Solid-state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy has been used to characterize the C in samples of the food (wood), gut contents and faeces from the wood-feeding termite, Microcerotermes parvus; soil in the guts and mound material from the soil-feeding termite, Thoracotermes macrothorax; and the food and faeces from the litter-feeding, coprophagous larvae of the dipteran fly, Bibio marci. Spectra from the wood-feeding termite indicated preferential loss of polysaccharide and accumulation of lignin with some modification to the O-aromatic-C and methoxyl-C (O-methyl-C) components during passage through the gut. Spectra for the soil-feeding termite indicated little change in the distribution of 13C between resonances following passage through the gut, except for some evidence of preferential polysaccharide loss. Interpretation of the spectra from these organisms was restricted by the relatively low C content of the soils and mound material, and by the large contribution to the NMR spectra from the gut tissue rather than the gut contents. Spectra for the litter-feeding dipteran larvae indicated preferential feeding on the polysaccharide-rich component of the litter and then overall loss of polysaccharide-C and accumulation of both aromatic-C and methoxyl-C in the gut. These changes were greater for the second passage than for the first passage through the gut, suggesting that principally mechanical and physical changes occurred initially and that chemical digestion was prevalent during the second passage.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anklin-Muhlemann R, Bignell DE, Veivers PC, Leuthold RH & Slaytor M (1995) Morphological, microbiological and biochemical studies of the gut flora in the fungus growing termite Macrotermes subhyalinus. J. Ins. Physiol. 41: 929–940
Arshad MA, Ripmeester JA & Schnitzer M (1988) Attempts to improve solid-state 13C spectra of whole mineral soils. Can. J. Soil Sci. 68: 593–602
Bignell DE (1989) Relative assimilations of 14C-labelled microbial tissues and 14C-plant fibre ingested with leaf litter by the millipede Glomerus marginata under experimental conditions. Soil Biol. Biochem. 21: 819–827
Bignell DE (1994) Soil-feeding and gut morphology in higher termites. In: Hunt JH & Nalepa CA (Eds) Nourishment and Evolution in Insect Societies (pp. 131–159). Westview Press, Boulder
Breznak JA & Brune A (1994) Role of microorganisms in the digestion of lignocellulose by termites. Ann. Rev. Entomol. 39: 453–487
Brune A, Miambi E & Breznak JA (1995) Roles of oxygen and the intestinal microflora in the metabolism of lignin-derived phenylpropanoids and other monoaromatic compounds by termites. Appl. Env. Microbiol. 61: 2688–2695
Brussaard L & Juma NG (1996) Organisms and humus in soils. In: Piccolo A (Ed) Humic Substances in Terrestrial Ecosystems (pp. 229–259). Elsevier, Amsterdam
Butler JHA & Buckerfield JC (1979) Digestion of lignin by termites. Soil Biol. Biochem. 11: 507–513
Cazemier AE, Op den Camp HJM, Hackstein JHP & Vogels GD (1997) Fibre digestion in arthropods. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. 118A: 101–109
Cookson LJ (1988) The site and mechanism of 14C-lignin degradation by Nasutitermes exitiosus. J. Ins. Physiol. 34: 409–414
Coleman DC & Crossley DA (1996) Fundamentals of Soil Ecology. Academic Press, San Diego
Eggleton P, Bignell DE, Sands WA, Mawdesley NA, Lawton JH, Wood TG & Bignell NC (1996) The diversity, abundance and biomass of termites under different levels of disturbance in the Mbalmayo Forest Reserve, southern Cameroon. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B 351: 51–68
Frouz J & Šustr V (1996) The impact of drying and rewetting of leaf litter on feeding activity of Bibio pomonae (Diptera, Bibionidae) larvae. Studia Dipterologica 3: 101–106
Garnier-Sillam E. & Harry M (1995) Distribution of humic compounds in mounds of some soil-feeding termite species of tropical rainforests: its influence on structure and stability. Insectes Sociaux 42: 167–185
Guggenberger G, Thomas RJ & Zech W (1996) Soil organic matter within earthworm casts of an anecic-endogeic tropical pasture community, Colombia. Appl. Soil Ecol. 3: 263–274
Gunnarson T & Tunlid A (1986) Recycling of fecal pellets in isopods: microorganisms and nitrogen compound as potential food source for Oniscus asellus L. Soil Biol. Biochem. 18: 595–600
Hassall M. & Rushton SP (1984) Feeding behaviour of terrestrial isopods in relation to plant defences and microbial activity. In: Sutton SL & Holditch D.M. (Eds) The Terrestrial Biology of Terrestrial Isopods (pp 487–505). Clarendon Press, Oxford
Hopkins DW & Chudek JA (1997) Solid-state NMR investigations of organic transformations during decomposition of plant material in soil. In: Cadisch G & Giller KE (Eds) Driven by Nature: Plant Litter Quality and Decomposition (pp 84–94). CAB-International, Wallingford
Hopkins DW, Chudek JA & Shiel RS (1993) Chemical characterization and decomposition of organic matter from two contrasting grassland soil profiles. J. Soil Sci. 44: 147–157
Hopkins DW, Chudek JA, Webster EA & Barraclough D (1997) Following the decomposition of ryegrass labelled with 13C and 15N in soil by solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Eur. J. Soil Sci. 48: 623–631
Karpachevsky LO, Perel TS & Bartsevich VV (1968) The role of Bibionidae larvae in decomposition of forest litter. Pedobiologia 8: 146–149
Lee KE & Wood TG (1971) Termites and Soils. Academic Press, London and New York
Nunes L, Bignell DE, Lo N & Eggleton P (1997) On the respiratory quotient (RQ) of termites. J. Ins. Physiol. 43: 749–758
Skjemstad JO, Clarke P, Golchin A & Oades JM (1997) Characterisation of soil organic matter by solid-state 13C NMR spectroscopy. In: Cadisch G & Giller KE (Eds) Driven by Nature: Plant Litter Quality and Decomposition (pp 253–271). CAB-International, Wallingford
Sleaford F, Bignell DE & Eggleton P (1996) A pilot analysis of gut contents in termites from the Mbalmayo Forest Reserve, Cameroon. Ecol. Entomol. 21: 279–288
Szabo IM (1974) Microbial communities in forest rendzina ecosystem. Akademia Kiado, Budapest
Vinceslas-Akpa M & Loquet M (1997) Organic matter transformations in lignocellulosic waste products composted or vermicomposted Eisenia fetida andrei): Chemical analysis and 13C CPMAS NMR spectroscopy. Soil Biol. Biochem. 29: 751–758
Wallwork JA (1970) Ecology of Soil Animals. McGraw-Hill, London
Wilson MJ (1987) NMR Techniques and Applications in Geochemistry and Soil Chemistry. Pergamon Press, Oxford
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hopkins, D., Chudek, J., Bignell, D. et al. Application of 13C NMR to investigate the transformations and biodegradation of organic materials by wood- and soil-feeding termites, and a coprophagous litter-dwelling dipteran larva. Biodegradation 9, 423–431 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008313309557
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008313309557