Fiber-associated spirochetes are major agents of hemicellulose degradation in the hindgut of wood-feeding higher termites [Microbiology]

Symbiotic digestion of lignocellulose in wood-feeding higher termites (family Termitidae) is a two-step process that involves endogenous host cellulases secreted in the midgut and a dense bacterial community in the hindgut compartment. The genomes of the bacterial gut microbiota encode diverse cellulolytic and hemicellulolytic enzymes, but the contributions of host...

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