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    Disruption of termite gut-microbiota and its prolonged fitness consequences

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    Rosengaus_et_al_AEM_FINAL SUBMISION with all included.pdf (448.0Kb)
    Date
    2011-05
    Author
    Rosengaus, Rebeca B.  Concept link
    Zecher, Courtney N.  Concept link
    Schultheis, Kelley F.  Concept link
    Brucker, Robert M.  Concept link
    Bordenstein, Seth R.  Concept link
    Metadata
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    Citable URI
    https://hdl.handle.net/1912/4612
    As published
    https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.01886-10
    Keyword
     Colony fitness; Gut microbiota; Mutualism; Oogenesis; Social insects 
    Abstract
    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.
    Description
    Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2011. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of American Society for Microbiology for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology 77 (2011): 4303-4312, doi:10.1128/AEM.01886-10.
    Collections
    • Josephine Bay Paul Center in Comparative Molecular Biology and Evolution
    Suggested Citation
    Preprint: Rosengaus, Rebeca B., Zecher, Courtney N., Schultheis, Kelley F., Brucker, Robert M., Bordenstein, Seth R., "Disruption of termite gut-microbiota and its prolonged fitness consequences", 2011-05, https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.01886-10, https://hdl.handle.net/1912/4612
     

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