Filtern
Dokumenttyp
Sprache
- Englisch (3)
Referierte Publikation
- ja (3) (entfernen)
Schlagworte
- Termites (3) (entfernen)
Subterranean termites moving in the peripheral tubular network of their foraging area need to distinguish the trail direction. In a natural gallery or tunnel network of Reticulitermes flavipes the branches at bifurcations generally have an acute angle between them. the resulting obtuse angle from the main trail leading into a branch is preferred by commuting termites. In experiments with artificial gallery forks, termites returning from a food source only neglected the trail junction leading to the nest and preferred the trail to a second food source if the angle to the nest was acute. A right angle to the nest was preferred over a straight way leading to a second food source. This preference to the nest increased when the three branches at trifurcations were arranged equi-angular. This preferred orientation could be attributed to attracting odours from close-by gallery material. Additionally, R. flavipes moved more slowly towards a food source consisting of pine wood than on the way back to the nest, as was shown in artificial one-way galleries. However, the significance of this speed difference remains uncertain because the speed of a homing termite in an artificially reversed trail does not slow down to the speed of a food foraging termite.
Wood-eating termites feed on a diet highly deficient in nitrogen. They must complement their diet with the aid of nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Nitrogen fixation in the gut has been demonstrated, but information about nitrogen-fixing bacteria in pure culture is scarce. From the higher termite Nasutitermes nigriceps the symbiotic bacterial strain M3A was isolated, which thrives in the hindgut contents. The Gram-negative strain exhibited similarities to the species of the genus Ensifer (including Sinorhizobium) on the basis of morphological and physiological/biochemical features. The 16S rRNA gene analysis showed the highest sequence similarity of the isolate M3A to Ensifer adhaerens (>99%; ATCC 33499). The DNADNA hybridization revealed a similarity of 66% with E. adhaerens (NCIMB12342T). In contrast to the type strain the isolate M3A possesses the capacity to nodulate plant roots. This is the first report on the detailed identification of a rhizobia-related strain from the intestinal tract of animals. Strain M3A has been deposited with two culture collections (DSM10169; ATCC BAA-396).