CHAPTER 8: Lignocellulose Degradation in Termite Symbiotic Systems
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Published:04 Nov 2013
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Special Collection: 2013 ebook collection , ECCC Environmental eBooks 1968-2022 , 2011-2015 environmental chemistry subject collectionSeries: Energy and Environment Series
L. Xie, N. Liu, and Y. Huang, in Biological Conversion of Biomass for Fuels and Chemicals: Explorations from Natural Utilization Systems, ed. J. Sun, S. Ding, and J. D. Peterson, The Royal Society of Chemistry, 2013, pp. 140-155.
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Lignocellulose, as a major structural component of plant cell walls, represents a major source of renewable organic matters that consists mainly of lignin, hemicellulose and cellulose. Termites, as one of the most efficient lignocellulose bio-recycling systems on earth, are presumed to have all major enzymes required for plant matter degradation. Accumulating evidence reveal that they do so with major help from their symbiotic microorganisms, including diverse combinations of termite hosts, gut microbes, gut protists and ectosymbiotic fungi. Discovery of lignocellulose-degrading enzymes from termites have been reported from both lower and higher termites, by both culture-dependent and culture-independent strategies. Through the traditional culture-dependent method, cellulolytic bacteria have been isolated from guts of various termite species including both higher termites of Microcerotermes, Macrotermes, Nasutitermes, Armitermes, Odontotermes, and lower termites of Reticulitermes, Hodotermopsis, Coptotermes, Zootermopsis, Neotermes, Incisitermes. Meanwhile, through the fast-developing culture-independent molecular approaches, including genomic, metagenomic, or transcriptomic analyses of termite symbiotic microorganisms, comprehensive insights into the molecular processes and mutualistic relationships between termites and their microbial symbionts, with special respect to the lignocellulolytic processes, have been obtained. Moreover, a broad set of lignocellulose-degrading genes or enzymes which may have promising industrial applications have been recovered from the termite symbiotic systems.