Journal ArticleDOI
Symbiosis with bacteria enhances the use of chitin by the springtail, Folsomia candida (Collembola).
H. Borkott,H. Insam +1 more
TLDR
A mutualistic symbiosis of F. candida with chitinolytic microorganisms is likely to enhance chitin degradation, which is not only intra-intestinal but also involves an extra-intestinal phase.Abstract:
The relationship between Folsomia candida and chitin-degrading microorganisms was studied. On chitin agar, 1010 bacteria were isolated per g faeces, and 3.8×1011 bacteria per g gut contents, 1/3 of them showing a clear (chitin-free) zone around the colony. The most abundant chitin-degrading bacteria were Xanthomonas maltophilia and Curtobacterium sp. To determine the bacterial contribution in the use of chitin by F. candida, a feeding experiment was carried out. F. candida were fed with chitin, either amended with or without tetracycline as an inhibitor of bacteria. When tetracycline was omitted the biomass of F. candida was increased compared to those fed chitin with tetracycline. However, this result was observed only when the food replacement intervals were long enough to allow bacterial colonization before ingestion of the food. In a food-selection experiment, a preference for chitin colonized with microorganisms as opposed to sterile chitin was found. The results indicate that a mutualistic symbiosis of F. candida with chitinolytic microorganisms is likely to enhance chitin degradation. This relationship is not only intra-intestinal but also involves an extra-intestinal phase.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Physiology of microbial degradation of chitin and chitosan
TL;DR: Chitin is produced in enormous quantities in the biosphere, chiefly as the major structural component of most fungi and invertebrates, and its degradation is chiefly by bacteria and fungi, by chitinolysis via chitinases, but also via deacetylation to chitosan, which is hydrolysed by chitonases.
Book ChapterDOI
Mechanisms of Microarthropod-Microbial Interactions in Soil
TL;DR: This chapter provides an overview of the mechanisms of microarthropod by focusing on the microbial interactions in soil, and examines how dispersal and selective grazing in the rhizosphere affect the distribution and abundance of fungi in soil.
Journal ArticleDOI
Could microbial symbionts of arthropod guts contribute significantly to nitrogen fixation in terrestrial ecosystems
TL;DR: A preliminary survey of a few detritivores indicates that nitrogen-fixing microbes of diverse forms are widespread in arthropod hindguts, and may represent a significant contribution both to the growth of arthropods and to their ecosystem functions of processing carbon and nitrogen.
Journal ArticleDOI
Intergeneric transfer of conjugative and mobilizable plasmids harbored by Escherichia coli in the gut of the soil microarthropod Folsomia candida (Collembola).
Andrea Hoffmann,Torsten Thimm,Marcus Dröge,Edward R. B. Moore,Jean Charles Munch,Christoph C. Tebbe +5 more
TL;DR: The importance of the microarthropod gut for enhanced conjugative gene transfer in soil microbial communities is indicated, withhibition experiments with nalidixic acid indicated that pRP4-luc plasmid transfer took place in the gut rather than in the feces.
Journal ArticleDOI
Bacillus species in the intestine of termites and other soil invertebrates.
TL;DR: Bacilli form a significant portion of the intestinal microbial community of soil invertebrates, especially among cellulose degraders, and will be discussed in this paper.
References
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Journal Article
Chitin media for selective isolation and culture of actinomycetes
Y. Lingappa,J. L. Lockwood +1 more
Journal ArticleDOI
Micro-Organisms in the Intestines of Earthworms
TL;DR: Actinomycetes and bacteria, but not fungi, increase rapidly in numbers during the passage of food through the worm gut, and enzymes produced by the worm rather than micro-organisms seem to be the main agents digesting cellulose and chitin.
Journal ArticleDOI
Bacteria in the food, gut contents and faeces of the litter-feeding millipede glomeris marginata (villers)
TL;DR: Correlation between counts from guts and food leaves indicated that the growth response was by the litter microflora and not indigenous gut symbionts, suggesting that the gut environment enhanced bacterial growth and viability.
Journal ArticleDOI
Inter- and intraspecific feeding selectivity of Folsomia candida (Willem) (Collembola, Isotomidae) on fungi
TL;DR: Results indicate that F. candida showed stronger preference for Acremonium sp.