P15-10 : Single cell genomic insights into Treponema diversity in the gut of the higher termite Nasutitermes takasagoensis.

Starns David^1,2,雪 真弘³,桑原 宏和⁴,本郷 裕一⁴,Darby Alistair²,大熊 盛也^1,3
1Japan collection of Microorganisms, RIKEN BioResource Center, 2Institute of Integrative Biology, University of Liverpool, 3Biomass Research Platform Team, RIKEN Biomass Engineering Program Cooperation Division, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, 4Graduate School of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Tokyo Institute of Technology,
The wood-feeding higher termite Nasutitermes takasagoensis has a diverse prokaryotic gut assemblage; here dry wood is efficiently digested providing the termite the essential nutrients to survive. The overall contribution of the community to the termite is understood but the individual roles therein are still largely unknown. In the gut environment the most abundant members are from the genus Treponema, of which, in higher termites (a lineage without protist symbionts) there is no cultured representative. Here we present through the culture-independent technique of single cell genomics – a unique perspective of the diversity of treponemes isolated from N. takasagoensis. Using fluorescence activated cell sorting, individual Treponema samples were isolated and phi29 DNA polymerase-mediated whole genome amplified. Genomes were sequenced on the Illumina MiSeq platform, assembled and annotated.  The samples were assigned to 9 of 10 of the Termite Treponeme groups for higher termites in Treponema cluster I based on 16S rRNA gene sequences. The genomes contain diverse genes not found in cultured termite cluster I genomes, thus will help elucidate the individual functions of these largely unknown groups.

keywords:single cell genomics,termite,symbiosis,,