Seasonal Variations in Soil Microbiota Profile of Termite (Syntermes wheeleri) Mounds in the Brazilian Tropical Savanna

Microorganisms

RenataHenrique Santana¹  RicardoHenrique Krüger²  HelenaIpe Pinheiro Guimaraes²  OtavioHenrique Bezerra Pinto²  MercedesMaria da Cunha Bustamante³  Rafaella Silveira⁴  BetaniaFerraz Quirino⁴  CristineChaves Barreto⁵ 

[1] Brazilian Federal Institute, Campus Planaltina, Brasília D.F. 70910-900, Brazil;Cellular Biology Department, University of Brasilia, Campus Universitário Darcy Ribeiro, Brasília D.F. 70910-900, Brazil;Department of Ecology, Biological Sciences Institute, University of Brasilia, Brasilia D.F. 70910-900, Brazil;Embrapa-Agroenergy, Parque Estação Biológica (PqEB), Genetics and Biotechnoloy Laboratory, PqEB s/nº, Brasília D.F. 70770-901, Brazil;Genomic Sciences and Biotechnology Graduate Program, Universidade Católica de Brasília, Brasilia D.F. 70790-160, Brazil;

关键词: termite;    mound;    soil;    Cerrado;    soil microbiology;    environmental microbiology;   

DOI  :  10.3390/microorganisms8101482

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Eusocial animals, such as the termites, often build a nest-like structure called a mound that provides shelter with stable internal conditions and protection against predators. Termites are important components of the Brazilian Cerrado biota. This study aimed to investigate the bacterial community composition and diversity of the Syntermes wheeleri termite-mound soil using culture-independent approaches. We considered the vertical profile by comparing two different mound depths (mound surface and 60 cm) and seasonality with samplings during the rainy and dry seasons. We compared the mound soil microbiota to the adjacent soil without the influence of the mound to test the hypothesis that the Cerrado soil bacterial community was more diverse and more susceptible to seasonality than the mound soil microbiota. The results support the hypothesis that the Cerrado soil bacterial community is more diverse than the mound soil and also has a higher variability among seasons. The number of observed OTUs (Operational Taxonomic Units) was used to express bacterial richness, and it indicates that soil moisture has an effect on the community distribution and richness of the Cerrado samples in comparison to mound samples, which remain stable across seasons. This could be a consequence of the protective role of the mound for the termite colony. The overall community taxonomic profile was similar between soil samples, especially when compared to the taxonomic composition of the Syntermes wheeleri termite’s gut, which might be explained by the different characteristics and functionality between the soil and the gut microbial community.

【 授权许可】

Unknown