Rosengaus Rebeca B.

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Rosengaus
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Rebeca B.
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  • Preprint
    Discovery of a novel Wolbachia supergroup in Isoptera
    ( 2005-05-23) Bordenstein, Seth R. ; Rosengaus, Rebeca B.
    Wolbachia are one of the most abundant groups of bacterial endosymbionts in the biosphere. Interest in these heritable microbes has expanded with the discovery of wider genetic diversity in undersampled host species. Here, we report on the putative discovery of a new genetic lineage, denoted supergroup H, which infects the Isopteran species Zootermopsis angusticollis and Z. nevadensis. Evidence for this novel supergroup is based on portions of new Wolbachia gene sequences from each species spanning 3.5 kilobases of DNA and the following genes: 16S rDNA, dnaA, gltA, groEL, and ftsZ. Single-gene and concatenated maximum likelihood phylogenies establish this new supergroup and validate the positioning of the other Wolbachia supergroups. This discovery is the first example of a termite Wolbachia that is highly divergent from the Isopteran Wolbachia previously described in supergroup F. This study highlights the importance of multilocus approaches to resolving Wolbachia supergroup relationships. It also suggests that surveys of Wolbachia in more earlier-originating (and undersampled) groups of arthropods are more apt to reveal novel genetic diversity.
  • Preprint
    Disruption of termite gut-microbiota and its prolonged fitness consequences
    ( 2011-05) Rosengaus, Rebeca B. ; Zecher, Courtney N. ; Schultheis, Kelley F. ; Brucker, Robert M. ; Bordenstein, Seth R.
    The disruption of host-symbiont interactions through the use of antibiotics can help elucidate microbial functions that go beyond short-term nutritional value. Termite gut symbionts have been studied extensively, but little is known about their impact on the termite’s reproductive output. Here we describe the effect that the antibiotic rifampin has not only on the gut microbial diversity, but also on the longevity, fecundity, and weight of two termite species - Zootermopsis angusticollis and Reticulitermes flavipes. We report three key findings: (i) the antibiotic rifampin, when fed to primary reproductives during the incipient stages of colony foundation, causes a permanent reduction in the diversity of gut bacteria, and a transitory effect on the density of the protozoan community, (ii) rifampin treatment reduces oviposition rates of queens, translating into delayed colony growth and ultimately reduced colony fitness and (iii) the initial dosages of rifampin on reproduction and colony fitness had severe longterm fitness effects on Z. angusticollis survivorship and colony size. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that the antibiotic-induced perturbation of the microbial community associates with prolonged reductions in longevity and fecundity. A causal relationship between these changes in the gut microbial population structures and fitness is suggested by the acquisition of opportunistic pathogens and incompetence of the termites to restore a pre-treatment, native microbiota. Our results indicate that antibiotic treatment significantly alters the termite’s microbiota, reproduction, colony establishment and ultimately, colony growth and development. We discuss the implications for antimicrobials as a new application to the control of termite pest species.