Abstract
We analyzed the metaproteome of the bacterial community resident in the hindgut paunch of the wood-feeding ‘higher’ termite (Nasutitermes) and identified 886 proteins, 197 of which have known enzymatic function. Using these enzymes, we reconstructed complete metabolic pathways revealing carbohydrate transport and metabolism, nitrogen fixation and assimilation, energy production, amino-acid synthesis and significant pyruvate ferredoxin/flavodoxin oxidoreductase protein redundancy. Our results suggest that the activity associated with these enzymes may have more of a role in the symbiotic relationship between the hindgut microbial community and its termite host than activities related to cellulose degradation.
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Acknowledgements
The research described in this paper was funded by the Genomes to Life program sponsored by the US Department of Energy's Office of Biological and Environmental Research and performed in the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a national scientific user facility sponsored by the DOE's Office of Biological and Environmental Research and located at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). PNNL is a multiprogram national laboratory operated by Battelle for the DOE under Contract DE-ACO5-76RLO 1830. We also thank Penny Colton for technical editing. The data used in the analysis can requested at http://ober-proteomics.pnl.gov/.
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Burnum, K., Callister, S., Nicora, C. et al. Proteome insights into the symbiotic relationship between a captive colony of Nasutitermes corniger and its hindgut microbiome. ISME J 5, 161–164 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/ismej.2010.97
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ismej.2010.97
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