PhD defense: Rafael Rodrigues da Costa

Fungus-growing termites along with their microbial symbionts represent a conspicuous example of multipartite symbiosis. The genomic complementarity found in the genome of these three organisms seems to be the key explanation for the ecological success achieved by them. Nevertheless, many aspects of the physiology of this complex mutualistic interaction remain obscure. Thus, this thesis has as main focus different physiological aspects of this symbiosis, and we gained deeper understanding on (i) the enzymatic aspects of plant biomass decomposition within the nest of fungus-growing termites; (ii) how the functional roles of gut symbionts reflect the fungal diet adopted by these termites; and (iii) how the growth capacities of Termitomyces fungi could explain the degree of interaction specificity displayed between the termite host and the fungus symbiont. By using different enzyme screening techniques, fungal growth assays, transcriptomics and metagenomics, and working with collaborators to supplement his work with plant biomass composition analyses.