Bacterial Diversity in Soil Surround Subterranean Termites-Damaged Wooden Buildings in Seonamsa Temple and Effect of the Termites on Bacterial Diversity in Humus Soil

Abstract

In order to determine the changes in microbial community due to termites, soil microorganisms surrounding the termites were investigated. First, bacterial communities from soil with termites collected at Seonamsa temple, Suncheon city, Korea were compared by next-generation sequencing (NGS, Illumina Miseq). The bacterial composition of soil from Daeungjeon without termites and the soil from Josadang, Palsangjeon, and Samjeon with termites were compared. Next, the bacterial composition of these soils was also compared with that of humus soil cultured with termites. A total high-quality sequences of 71,942 and 72,429 reads were identified in Seonamsa temple’s soil and humus soil, respectively. The dominant phyla in the collected Seonamsa temple’s soil were Proteobacteria (27%), Firmicutes (24%) and Actinobacteria (21%), whereas those in the humus soil were Bacteriodetes (56%) and Proteobacteria (37%). Using a two-dimensional plot to explain the principal coordinate analysis of operational taxonomic unit compositions of the soil samples, it was confirmed that the samples were divided into soil with and without termites, and it was especially confirmed that the Proteobacteria phylum was increased in humus soil with termites than in humus soil without termites.