Speciation of termite gut protists: the role of bacterial symbionts Authors Michael F. Dolan Department of Geosciences, University of Massachusetts. Amherst, USA Keywords: bacterial symbionts, termite gut protists, parabasalia, endosymbiosis, trichomonads Abstract At least 12 termite gut protists have been named because of their bacterial symbionts. Dozens more species are diagnosed by epi- and endosymbionts and more still have regular bacterial associations referred to in their species description. Molecular systematic studies have begun to identify these bacteria, but the ecological relationswith their protist bionts are still unknown. Recent findingsof acetogenic spirochetesin termite gutsmay explain the peculiar arrangement of spirochetes on some of these protists. Other bacteria function as motility or chemotactic symbionts of these protists. The size and shape of the parabasal body, a Golgi complex, are morphological characters of the Parabasalia (trichomonads, hypermastigids) that may be influenced by regular, heritable epi- and endosymbiotic bacteria. Downloads PDF Published 2010-03-12 Issue Vol. 4 No. 4 (2001) Section Review Articles License Submission of a manuscript to International Microbiology implies: that the work described has not been published before, including publication in the World Wide Web (except in the form of an Abstract or as part of a published lecture, review, or thesis); that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere; that all the coauthors have agreed to its publication. The corresponding author signs for and accepts responsability for releasing this material and will act on behalf of any and all coauthors regarding the editorial review and publication process.If an article is accepted for publication in International Microbiology, the authors (or other copyright holder) must transfer to the journal the right–not exclusive–to reproduce and distribute the article including reprints, translations, photographic reproductions, microform, electronic form (offline, online) or any other reproductions of similar nature. Nevertheless, all article in International Microbiology will be available on the Internet to any reader at no cost. The journal allows users to freely download, copy, print, distribute, search, and link to the full text of any article, provided the authorship and source of the published article is cited. The copyright owner's consent does not include copying for new works, or resale. In these cases, the specific written permission of International Microbiology must first be obtained.Authors are requested to create a link to the published article on the journal's website. The link must be accompanied by the following text: "The original publication is available on LINK at <http://www.im.microbios.org>. Please use the appropiate URL for the article in LINK. Articles disseminated via LINK are indexed, abstracted, and referenced by many abstracting and information services, bibliographic networks, subscription agencies, library networks, and consortia.
