Interaction Specificity of Termites and Their Fungal Partners
Author Information
Author(s): Aanen Duur K, Ros Vera, de Fine Licht Henrik H, Mitchell Jannette, de Beer Z Wilhelm, Slippers Bernard, Rouland-LeFèvre Corinne, Boomsma Jacobus J
Primary Institution: Wageningen University and Research Center
Hypothesis
Are inhabitants (symbionts) taxonomically less diverse than 'exhabitants' (hosts) and is transmission mode an important determinant for interaction specificity?
Conclusion
Interaction specificity was high at the genus level and generally much lower at the species level.
Supporting Evidence
- 47% of the variation occurred between genera, 18% between species, and 35% between colonies within species.
- High mutual specificity was found for the single Macrotermes species studied.
- The three species of the genus Odontotermes showed low symbiont specificity.
- Bilaterally low specificity was found for the four tentatively recognized species of the genus Microtermes.
Takeaway
This study looked at how specific termites are in their relationships with fungi, finding that some termites are very picky about their fungal partners while others are not.
Methodology
The study analyzed molecular variance among symbiont ITS sequences across termite hosts at three hierarchical levels.
Limitations
The study's findings may be influenced by sampling effort and spatial autocorrelation.
Participant Demographics
Samples were collected from 101 colonies belonging to eight species in three genera of fungus-growing termites.
Statistical Information
P-Value
0.0029
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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