New insights into the coevolutionary history of termites and their gut flagellates: Description of Retractinympha glossotermitis gen. nov. sp. nov. (Retractinymphidae fam. nov.)
Résumé
Lower termites harbor diverse consortia of symbiotic gut flagellates. Despite numerous evidence for co-cladogenesis, the evolutionary history of these associations remains unclear. Here, we present Retractinymphidae fam. nov., a monogeneric lineage of Trichonymphida from Serritermitidae. Although
Retractinympha glossotermitis
gen. nov. sp. nov. morphologically resembles members of the genus
Pseudotrichonympha
, phylogenetic analysis identified it as sister group of the Teranymphidae. We compared morphology and ultrastructure of
R
.
glossotermitis
to that of
Pseudotrichonympha
and other Teranymphidae, including the so-far undescribed
Pseudotrichonympha solitaria
sp. nov. from
Termitogeton planus
(Rhinotermitidae). Like all Teranymphidae,
R
.
glossotermitis
is a large, elongated flagellate with a bilaterally symmetric rostrum, an anterior, flagella-free operculum, and an internal rostral tube. However, it is readily distinguished by the length of its rostral flagella, which never exceeds that of the postrostral flagella, and its retractable anterior end. Inclusion of the hitherto unstudied
Stylotermes halumicus
(Stylotermitidae) in our survey of trichonymphid flagellates in Neoisoptera confirmed that the combined presence of
Heliconympha
and
Retractinympha
and absence of
Pseudotrichonympha
is unique to Serritermitidae. The close phylogenetic relatedness of
Heliconympha
in Serritermitidae to the spirotrichosomid flagellates in Stolotermitidae provides strong support for their acquisition by horizontal transmission.
Auteurs, date et publication :
Auteurs Renate Radek , Katja Platt , Deniz Öztas , Jan Šobotník , David Sillam-Dussès , Robert Hanus , Andreas Brune
Publication : Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
Date : 2023
Volume : 11
Pages : 1111484