TY - JOUR

T1 - You don’t have the guts

T2 - a diverse set of fungi survive passage through Macrotermes bellicosus termite guts [+ correction]

AU - Bos, Nick

AU - Guimaraes, Leandro

AU - Palenzuela, Romen

AU - Renelies-Hamilton, Justinn

AU - Maccario, Lorrie

AU - Silue, Simon Kolotchèlèma

AU - Koné, N'golo Abdoulaye

AU - Poulsen, Michael

N1 - Correction to: You don’t have the guts: a diverse set of fungi survive passage through Macrotermes bellicosus termite guts (BMC Ecology and Evolution, (2020), 20, 1, (163), 10.1186/s12862-020-01727-z)

PY - 2020

Y1 - 2020

N2 - Background: Monoculture farming poses significant disease challenges, but fungus-farming termites are able to successfully keep their monoculture crop free from contamination by other fungi. It has been hypothesised that obligate gut passage of all plant substrate used to manure the fungal symbiont is key to accomplish this. Here we refute this hypothesis in the fungus-farming termite species Macrotermes bellicosus. Results: We first used ITS amplicon sequencing to show that plant substrate foraged on by termite workers harbour diverse fungal communities, which potentially could challenge the farming symbiosis. Subsequently, we cultivated fungi from dissected sections of termite guts to show that fungal diversity does not decrease during gut passage. Therefore, we investigated if healthy combs harboured these undesirable fungal genera, and whether the presence of workers affected fungal diversity within combs. Removal of workers led to a surge in fungal diversity in combs, implying that termite defences must be responsible for the near-complete absence of other fungi in functioning termite gardens. Conclusions: The rapid proliferation of some of these fungi when colonies are compromised indicates that some antagonists successfully employ a sit-and-wait strategy that allows them to remain dormant until conditions are favourable. Although this strategy requires potentially many years of waiting, it prevents these fungi from engaging in an evolutionary arms race with the termite host, which employs a series of complementary behavioural and chemical defences that may prove insurmountable.

AB - Background: Monoculture farming poses significant disease challenges, but fungus-farming termites are able to successfully keep their monoculture crop free from contamination by other fungi. It has been hypothesised that obligate gut passage of all plant substrate used to manure the fungal symbiont is key to accomplish this. Here we refute this hypothesis in the fungus-farming termite species Macrotermes bellicosus. Results: We first used ITS amplicon sequencing to show that plant substrate foraged on by termite workers harbour diverse fungal communities, which potentially could challenge the farming symbiosis. Subsequently, we cultivated fungi from dissected sections of termite guts to show that fungal diversity does not decrease during gut passage. Therefore, we investigated if healthy combs harboured these undesirable fungal genera, and whether the presence of workers affected fungal diversity within combs. Removal of workers led to a surge in fungal diversity in combs, implying that termite defences must be responsible for the near-complete absence of other fungi in functioning termite gardens. Conclusions: The rapid proliferation of some of these fungi when colonies are compromised indicates that some antagonists successfully employ a sit-and-wait strategy that allows them to remain dormant until conditions are favourable. Although this strategy requires potentially many years of waiting, it prevents these fungi from engaging in an evolutionary arms race with the termite host, which employs a series of complementary behavioural and chemical defences that may prove insurmountable.

KW - Antimicrobial defence

KW - Macrotermitinae

KW - Mycobiome

KW - Pseudoxylaria

KW - Termitomyces

UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-021-01744-6

U2 - 10.1186/s12862-020-01727-z

DO - 10.1186/s12862-020-01727-z

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 33297950

AN - SCOPUS:85097312237

VL - 20

JO - B M C Evolutionary Biology

JF - B M C Evolutionary Biology

SN - 1471-2148

M1 - 163

ER -