Open AccessSpirochete and protist symbionts of a termite ( Mastotermes electrodominicus ) in Miocene amber
Author(s) -
Andrew M. Wier,
Michael F. Dolan,
David A. Grimaldi,
Ricardo Guerrero,
Jorge Wagensberg,
Lynn Margulis
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.022643899
Subject(s) - biology , protist , endospore , bacteria , rhinotermitidae , bacillus (shape) , botany , xylem , genus , fossil wood , microbiology and biotechnology , zoology , paleontology , biochemistry , gene
Extraordinary preservation in amber of the Miocene termite Mastotermes electrodominicus has led to the discovery of fossil symbiotic microbes. Spirochete bacteria and wood-digesting protists were identified in the intestinal tissue of the insect. Fossil wood (xylem: developing vessel-element cells, fibers, pit connections), protists (most likely xylophagic amitochondriates), an endospore (probably of the filamentous intestinal bacterium Arthromitus = Bacillus), and large spirochetes were seen in thin section by light and transmission electron microscopy. The intestinal microbiota of the living termite Mastotermes darwiniensis, a genus now restricted to northern Australia, markedly resembles that preserved in amber. This is a direct observation of a 20-million-year-old xylophagus termite fossil microbial community.