Genomics of uncultivable bacteria deciphers multilayered symbiotic system in the termite gut

MPI Seminar

  • Date: Aug 20, 2018
  • Time: 02:15 PM (Local Time Germany)
  • Speaker: Prof. Dr. Yuichi Hongoh
  • Tokyo Institute of Technology, Department of Biological Sciences, Japan
  • Location: MPI for Terrestrial Microbiology
  • Room: Lecture hall
  • Host: Prof. Dr. Andreas Brune
  • Contact: brune@mpi-marburg.mpg.de

Termites are social insects that thrive on dead plant matter. Their ability to digest lignocellulose and survive on nitrogen-poor food is largely attributable to the activity of the symbiotic gut microbiota, which comprises protists, bacteria, and archaea. My research team has been attempting to entangle this complex, multi-layered symbiotic system, using culture-independent approaches including metagenomics and single-cell genomics. We reconstructed genome sequences of several uncultured prokaryotic species associated with cellulolytic protist cells as endo- or ectosymbionts and predicted their functional roles in the symbiotic system. In my talk, I will introduce this fascinating symbiotic system in the termite gut, including our newest results.

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