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6 September 2018 A Lab-Based Study of Temperate Forest Termite Impacts on Two Common Wood-Rot Fungi
Jason S. Martin, Mark S. Bulmer
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Abstract

Termites and fungi are the primary decomposers of dead wood. Interactions between wood-feeding termites and wood-rot fungi are inevitable given their shared food source. Termites have developed multiple defense strategies against infectious fungi, such as Metarhizium spp., that include antifungal proteins in their saliva and fungal inhibition properties in their gut. The antifungal properties of termite salivary secretions depend on β-1,3-glucanases that are likely to be effective against a broad spectrum of filamentous fungi. Given the overlap in niches, there is opportunity for interference competition between termites and wood-rot fungi to occur. Here we demonstrate that β-1,3-glucanases in the saliva and the antifungal properties of the gut of the eastern subterranean termite Reticulitermes flavipes (Kollar) (Blattodea: Rhinotermitidae) affects the growth of two common wood-rot fungi, Gloeophyllum trabeum Persoon (Murrill) (Gloeophyllales: Gloeophyllaceae) and Phanerochaete chrysosporium (Burdsall) (Polyporales: Phanerochaetaceae).

© The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
Jason S. Martin and Mark S. Bulmer "A Lab-Based Study of Temperate Forest Termite Impacts on Two Common Wood-Rot Fungi," Environmental Entomology 47(6), 1388-1393, (6 September 2018). https://doi.org/10.1093/ee/nvy122
Received: 25 January 2018; Accepted: 13 July 2018; Published: 6 September 2018
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KEYWORDS
antimicrobial peptide
subterranean termite
termicin
Trichoderma sp
β-1,3-glucanase
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