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Morphology, physiology, biochemistry and functional design of the termite gut: an evolutionary wonderland

The chapter reviews termite gut structure and associations with mutualists, now informed by a great increase of data on intestinal microbial diversity made possible in the last decade by molecular genomics, and in the light of contemporary theories on the origin, evolution and trophic diversificatio...

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Main Author: David E. Bignell
Format: Book Chapter
Language:English
Published: Springer Netherlands 2011
Subjects:
QL Zoology
Online Access:https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/20542/1/Morphology.pdf
https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/20542/
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3977-4_14
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spelling my.ums.eprints.205422018-07-24T01:23:29Z https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/20542/ Morphology, physiology, biochemistry and functional design of the termite gut: an evolutionary wonderland David E. Bignell QL Zoology The chapter reviews termite gut structure and associations with mutualists, now informed by a great increase of data on intestinal microbial diversity made possible in the last decade by molecular genomics, and in the light of contemporary theories on the origin, evolution and trophic diversification of the Isoptera. Detailed morphological descriptions are not given, but the more modern synoptic literature on anatomy, histology and in situ coiling is listed and discussed in relation to current concepts of the termite gut as a bioreactor system. Knowledge of intestinal microbiology, and of microbial physiology and metabolism, has outstripped progress in understanding secretory and absorptive processes by the gut wall and associated structures, such that the primary substrates fermented in the hindgut and the end products utilised by the termite host are still not precisely identified in many cases. Current perceptions of the specialised digestive processes of fungus-growing and soil-feeding termites are summarised, and an overarching evolutionary thesis is proposed, arguing that social organisation in termites has developed primarily to safeguard the fidelity of symbiont transmission between individuals and generations. Springer Netherlands 2011 Book Chapter NonPeerReviewed text en https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/20542/1/Morphology.pdf David E. Bignell (2011) Morphology, physiology, biochemistry and functional design of the termite gut: an evolutionary wonderland. Biology of Termites: a Modern Synthesis. pp. 375-412. ISSN 978-904813976-7 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3977-4_14
institution Universiti Malaysia Sabah
building UMS Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Malaysia Sabah
content_source UMS Institutional Repository
url_provider http://eprints.ums.edu.my/
language English
topic QL Zoology
spellingShingle QL Zoology
David E. Bignell
Morphology, physiology, biochemistry and functional design of the termite gut: an evolutionary wonderland
description The chapter reviews termite gut structure and associations with mutualists, now informed by a great increase of data on intestinal microbial diversity made possible in the last decade by molecular genomics, and in the light of contemporary theories on the origin, evolution and trophic diversification of the Isoptera. Detailed morphological descriptions are not given, but the more modern synoptic literature on anatomy, histology and in situ coiling is listed and discussed in relation to current concepts of the termite gut as a bioreactor system. Knowledge of intestinal microbiology, and of microbial physiology and metabolism, has outstripped progress in understanding secretory and absorptive processes by the gut wall and associated structures, such that the primary substrates fermented in the hindgut and the end products utilised by the termite host are still not precisely identified in many cases. Current perceptions of the specialised digestive processes of fungus-growing and soil-feeding termites are summarised, and an overarching evolutionary thesis is proposed, arguing that social organisation in termites has developed primarily to safeguard the fidelity of symbiont transmission between individuals and generations.
format Book Chapter
author David E. Bignell
author_facet David E. Bignell
author_sort David E. Bignell
title Morphology, physiology, biochemistry and functional design of the termite gut: an evolutionary wonderland
title_short Morphology, physiology, biochemistry and functional design of the termite gut: an evolutionary wonderland
title_full Morphology, physiology, biochemistry and functional design of the termite gut: an evolutionary wonderland
title_fullStr Morphology, physiology, biochemistry and functional design of the termite gut: an evolutionary wonderland
title_full_unstemmed Morphology, physiology, biochemistry and functional design of the termite gut: an evolutionary wonderland
title_sort morphology, physiology, biochemistry and functional design of the termite gut: an evolutionary wonderland
publisher Springer Netherlands
publishDate 2011
url https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/20542/1/Morphology.pdf
https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/20542/
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3977-4_14
_version_ 1760229729073364992
score 13.211869

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