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Updated: Feb 14, 2026

Extracting DNA from the Gut Microbes of the Termite Zootermopsis Angusticollis and Visualizing Gut Microbes
Published on: May 28, 2007
Rampant Host Switching Shaped the Termite Gut Microbiome
Thomas Bourguignon1, Nathan Lo2, Carsten Dietrich3
1Okinawa Institute of Science & Technology Graduate University, 1919-1 Tancha, Onna-son, Okinawa 904-0495, Japan; School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia; Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic.
Termite gut microbiota acquisition involves both vertical transmission and rampant horizontal transfer between species. This "mixed-mode" transmission shapes their complex microbial communities.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Evolutionary Biology
- Ecology
Background:
- The gut microbiota significantly impacts host biology, with transmission routes (vertical vs. horizontal) debated.
- Termites possess complex gut microbiota and social structures suggesting potential for vertical symbiont transmission and co-evolution.
- Previous research on termite gut microbial community assembly yielded conflicting conclusions regarding transmission modes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the assembly mechanisms of termite gut microbial communities.
- To determine the relative contributions of vertical and horizontal transmission in shaping termite gut symbionts.
- To analyze the evolutionary history of bacterial lineages within termite guts.
Main Methods:
- Examined the gut microbiota of 94 termite species using 16S rRNA metabarcoding.
- Analyzed the phylogeny of 211 bacterial lineages from termite guts and their closest environmental relatives via BLAST.
- Phylogenetic analysis was used to infer transmission patterns.
Main Results:
- Identified strong evidence for extensive horizontal transfer of gut bacteria among termite lineages.
- Observed that most termite-derived bacterial phylotypes formed monophyletic groups, indicating niche specialization.
- Found numerous bacterial clades interspersed with lineages from other animal guts, suggesting frequent cross-species transfer.
Conclusions:
- Termite gut microbiota are shaped by a combination of vertical and horizontal transmission.
- "Mixed-mode" transmission, integrating vertical colony-to-offspring and horizontal colony-to-colony transfer, is the primary driver.
- This mixed-mode transmission explains the observed patterns of niche specialization and inter-species bacterial exchange in termites.
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