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Diversity of Gut Bacteria of Reticulitermes flavipes as Examined by 16S rRNA Gene Sequencing and Amplified rDNA Restriction Analysis

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Abstract

The phylogenetic species richness of the bacteria in the gut of the termite Reticulitermes flavipes was examined using near full-length 16S rRNA gene sequencing and amplified rDNA restriction analysis (ARDRA). We amplified the genes by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) directly from a mixed population of termite gut bacteria and isolated them using cloning techniques. Sequence analysis of 42 clones identified a broad taxonomic range of ribotypes from six phyla within the domain Bacteria: Proteobacteria, Spirochaetes, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, and the recently proposed “Endomicrobia.” Analysis of the sequence data suggested the presence of a termite specific bacterial lineage within Bacteroidetes. The ARDRA data included 261 different ARDRA profiles of 512 clones analyzed. These data suggest the gut flora in R. flavipes is extremely diverse.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dow AgroSciences, 1115 Arrington Road, Blacksburg, VA, 24060, USA

    Marc Fisher

  2. Department of Entomology, 216A Price Hall, Virginia Tech (0319), Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA

    Dini Miller & Carlyle Brewster

  3. Department of Entomology, 404 Life Sciences Bldg., LSU, Baton Rouge, LA, 70803-1710, USA

    Claudia Husseneder

  4. Virginia Bioinformatics Institute, Bioinformatics I, Washington Street, Blacksburg, VA, 24061-0477, USA

    Allan Dickerman

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  1. Marc Fisher
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  2. Dini Miller
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  3. Carlyle Brewster
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  4. Claudia Husseneder
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  5. Allan Dickerman
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Correspondence to Marc Fisher.

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Fisher, M., Miller, D., Brewster, C. et al. Diversity of Gut Bacteria of Reticulitermes flavipes as Examined by 16S rRNA Gene Sequencing and Amplified rDNA Restriction Analysis. Curr Microbiol 55, 254–259 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-007-0136-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-007-0136-8

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