1. Nitrogen Inventories and Nitrogenase Expression Rates of a Drywood and a Subterranean Termite.
- Author
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Mullins, Aaron, Scheffrahn, Rudolf, and Su, Nan-Yao
- Subjects
- *
NITROGENASES , *TERMITES , *NITROGEN , *INVENTORIES , *ATMOSPHERIC nitrogen - Abstract
Recent research has shown that a subterranean termite (Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki) is dependent on dietary nitrogen in order to fulfill it's nitrogen requirements for colony growth and development. Crypototermes brevis (Walker) was chosen as a model for comparison, as it has no access to dietary nitrogen outside of it's wood diet. A full nitrogen inventory before and after colony growth was conducted in order to determine the species' dependence on atmospheric N2 fixation. In addition, an expression assay was conducted for a gene encoding a nitrogenase subunit (nifH). Nitrogenase expression was then compared between C. formosanus and Cr. brevis. Results showed that N2 fixation was an important source of nitrogen acquisition for Cr. brevis , and nitrogenase expression was approximately four-fold higher in Cr. brevis than in C. formosanus. The nitrogenase assay used in this study is proposed as a potential tool to measure dependence on N2 fixation versus dietary nitrogen roles in diverse species of termite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022
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