1c), mushrooms spread sexual spores, which are likely picked up by foraging termites enabling the inoculation of newly founded termite colonies. While most Termitomyces nodules serve as nutrition for the termites and vector fungal spores (asexual reproduction), other types of nodules occasionally differentiate to become pointy primordia of fruiting bodies (Fig. Subsequently, the fungus forms visible protein, carbohydrate-rich and spore-containing fungal nodules that the termites ingest (Fig. In the case of fungus-growing termites, the basidiomycete genus Termitomyces is propagated by termite workers within biomass-containing cork-like structures (“fungus comb”) as food fungus, where the fungus colonizes the provided predigested plant material via a dense hyphal network. Only a few insect lineages maintain and manure fungi as nutritional ectosymbionts, similar to human agriculture, with attine ants and Macrotermitine termites being prime examples 1. Similar content being viewed by othersĪmong the different types of nutritional symbiosis, fungiculture in insects represents one of the most complex symbiotic interactions 1, 2. Enzyme candidates putatively involved in terpene biosynthesis were heterologously expressed and while these were not involved in the biosynthesis of the complete drimane skeleton, they catalyzed the formation of two structurally related monocyclic sesquiterpenes named nectrianolins. The total synthesis of one of these, drimenol, and related drimanes assisted in structural and comparative analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and antimicrobial activity testing. ![]() The abundance of sesquiterpenoids from mushrooms allowed targeted isolation of five drimane sesquiterpenes from plate cultivations. Results show that mushrooms emit a VOC pattern that differs from mycelium grown in fungal gardens and laboratory cultures. To deduce fungal signals and ecological patterns that relate to the stability of this symbiosis, we explored the volatile organic compound (VOC) repertoire of Termitomyces from Macrotermes natalensis colonies. ![]() However, the biochemical mechanisms orchestrating this mutualistic relationship are largely unknown. Macrotermitinae termites have farmed fungi in the genus Termitomyces as a food source for millions of years.
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