Affiliation:
1. Department of Microbiology and Center for Microbial Ecology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824–1101, USA.
Abstract
Pure cultures of termite gut spirochetes were obtained and were shown to catalyze the synthesis of acetate from H
2
plus CO
2
. The 16
S
ribosomal DNA sequences of two strains were 98 percent similar and were affiliated with those of the genus
Treponema
. However, neither was closely related to any known treponeme. These findings imply an important role for spirochetes in termite nutrition, help to reconcile the dominance of acetogenesis over methanogenesis as an H
2
sink in termite hindguts, suggest that the motility of termite gut protozoa by means of attached spirochetes may be based on interspecies H
2
transfer, and underscore the importance of termites as a rich reservoir of novel microbial diversity.
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
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