| Reference |
Berchtold M, Chatzinotas A, Schonhuber W, Brune A, Amann R, Hahn D, Konig H. Differential enumeration and in situ localization of microorganisms in the hindgut of the lower termite mastotermes darwiniensis by hybridization with rRNA-targeted probes. Arch Microbiol. 1999 Dec172(6):407-16. p.413 right column 3rd paragraphPubMed ID10591851
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| Method |
“Examinations using indicator dyes and recent studies
involving microelectrodes have shown a pronounced spatial
differentiation of termite hindguts with respect to intestinal
pH (Noirot and Noirot-Timotheé 1969. Brune and
Kühl 1996) and axial or radial gradients of oxygen or hydrogen
concentration (Veivers et al. 1980 Brune et al.
1995a Ebert and Brune 1997, Schmitt-Wagner and Brune
1999). However, it is not clear whether or to what extent
such differences in environmental conditions affect the
composition of microbial communities colonizing individual
gut regions or various microniches within a single
compartment. The rRNA approach, i.e., sequencing of rRNA genes
and hybridization with group-specific, fluorescently labeled,
rRNA-targeted oligonucleotide probes, has been
widely used for identification and enumeration of noncultivated
microorganisms (Amann et al. 1995 Berchtold
and König 1995, 1996 Zarda et al. 1997). In combination
with confocal laser scanning microscopy, it allows the in
situ localization of microorganisms even in complex systems,
e.g., plant roots (Assmus et al. 1995) or activated sludge (Amann et al. 1996).
Combining the rRNA approach with confocal laser
scanning microscopy and oxygen microelectrode measurements,
[researchers] examined the gut microbial community
within the hindgut of the wood-feeding, Australian termite
M. darwiniensis. From a comparison of microbial
numbers and community structure between the thin-walled,
dilated P3a and the thick-walled and more tubular
regions (P3b and P4), [they] sought to examine differences in microbial colonization of the compartments and to correlate oxygen profiles with spatial distribution of the microbiota.” |