Termites and subsocial roaches inherited many bacterial-borne carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) from their common ancestor.

Abstract

Termites digest wood using Carbohydrate-Active Enzymes (CAZymes) produced by gut bacteria with whom they have cospeciated at geological timescales. Whether CAZymes were encoded in the genomes of their ancestor's gut bacteria and transmitted to modern termites or acquired more recently from bacteria not associated with termites is unclear. We used gut metagenomes from 195 termites and one Cryptocercus, the sister group of termites, to investigate the evolution of termite gut bacterial CAZymes. We found 420 termite-specific clusters in 81 bacterial CAZyme gene trees, including 404 clusters showing strong cophylogenetic patterns with termites. Of the 420 clusters, 131 included at least one bacterial CAZyme sequence associated with Cryptocercus or Mastotermes, the sister group of all other termites. Our results suggest many bacterial CAZymes have been encoded in the genomes of termite gut bacteria since termite origin, indicating termites rely upon many bacterial CAZymes endemic to their guts to digest wood.