Diversidade molecular de procariotos em solo de cupinzeiro e seu agente Cornitermes cumulans

Abstract

Symbiosis between insects and prokaryotes are recognized as essential to the survival of these invertebrates. The bacterial community in the gastrointestinal tract of termites, social insects, is diverse and the function of this microbiota has been characterized. This study investigated the molecular diversity of prokaryotes in soil of the mound and its agent Cornitermes cumulans using a cultivation-independent approach. Thus, samples of the termite nest soil (SC), reference soil (SR) and termite (CP) - Cornitermes cumulans - were collected. The amplicon of the 16S rRNA gene of bacteria was used for the ARDRA fingerprint analysis of the SC, SR and CP samples and the constructionof libraries from SC and CP. Moreover, the construction of 16S rDNA library from archaea was obtained using SC sample. Analysis of restriction profiles of 16S rRNA gene revealed that bacterial communities in SC, SR and CP were different, although SR and CP communities were more similar. Phylogenetic analysis using 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed a high diversity of bacterial communities in SC, detecting 67 OTUs which were affiliated to ten phyla: Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Firmicutes, Planctomycetes, Bacteroidetes, Verrucomicrobia, Chloroflexi, Gemmatimonadetes and Bacteria_incertae_sedis. On the other hand, the community ofarchaea of the sample SC showed that only two OTUs affiliated to the phylum Chrenoarcheota. The bacterial community of Cornitermes cumulans presented eight OTUs which were affiliated with four phyla Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria and Synergistetes. Identified bacterial phyla, Proteobacteria, Firmicutes and Actinobacteria were common to both communities in SC and CP. The Shannon-Weaverand Simpson indices and the ACE and Chao1 values showed that SC and CP had high bacterial diversity while SC had a low diversity of archaea. Thus, the results reveal bacterial diversity, yet unexplored, in the soil of termite mound and Cornitermes cumulans.