Evolution of Termite Symbiosis Informed by Transcriptome-Based Phylogenies

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F61388963%3A_____%2F19%3A00511364" target="_blank" >RIV/61388963:_____/19:00511364 - isvavai.cz</a>

Alternative codes found

RIV/60460709:41320/19:81188

Result on the web

<a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(19)31160-1?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0960982219311601%3Fshowall%3Dtrue" target="_blank" >https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(19)31160-1?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0960982219311601%3Fshowall%3Dtrue</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2019.08.076" target="_blank" >10.1016/j.cub.2019.08.076</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Evolution of Termite Symbiosis Informed by Transcriptome-Based Phylogenies

Original language description

Termitidae comprises ∼80% of all termite species [1] that play dominant decomposer roles in tropical ecosystems [2, 3]. Two major events during termite evolution were the loss of cellulolytic gut protozoans in the ancestor of Termitidae and the subsequent gain in the termitid subfamily Macrotermitinae of fungal symbionts cultivated externally in “combs” constructed within the nest [4, 5]. How these symbiotic transitions occurred remains unresolved. Phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial data previously suggested that Macrotermitinae is the earliest branching termitid lineage, followed soon after by Sphaerotermitinae [6], which cultivates bacterial symbionts on combs inside its nests [7]. This has led to the hypothesis that comb building was an important evolutionary step in the loss of gut protozoa in ancestral termitids [8]. We sequenced genomes and transcriptomes of 55 termite species and reconstructed phylogenetic trees from up to 4,065 orthologous genes of 68 species. We found strong support for a novel sister-group relationship between the bacterial comb-building Sphaerotermitinae and fungus comb-building Macrotermitinae. This key finding indicates that comb building is a derived trait within Termitidae and that the creation of a comb-like “external rumen” involving bacteria or fungi may not have driven the loss of protozoa from ancestral termitids, as previously hypothesized. Instead, associations with gut prokaryotic symbionts, combined with dietary shifts from wood to other plant-based substrates, may have played a more important role in this symbiotic transition. Our phylogenetic tree provides a platform for future studies of comparative termite evolution and the evolution of symbiosis in this taxon.

Czech name

—

Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

10608 - Biochemistry and molecular biology

Project

<a href="/en/project/EF16_019%2F0000803" target="_blank" >EF16_019/0000803: Advanced research supporting the forestry and wood-processing sector´s adaptation to global change and the 4th industrial revolution</a><br>

Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2019

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Current Biology

ISSN

0960-9822

e-ISSN

—

Volume of the periodical

29

Issue of the periodical within the volume

21

Country of publishing house

GB - UNITED KINGDOM

Number of pages

7

Pages from-to

3728-3734

UT code for WoS article

000494940000035

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85074066769