Metatranscriptome of the termite Coptotermes formosanus. termite metagenome

Wood-feeding termites play a great ecological role in bio-recycling of wood lignocellulose with high efficiency. The xylophagous nature of termites, in the meantime, imposes great damage on wood structures and economic trees, such as Coptotermes formosanus, which may cost consumers over $1 billion dollars annually for preventive treatments and damage repairs. It is of great interest to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying the ability of termites to utilize wood cellulose and metabolize carbohydrates. To explore the wealth of the C. formosanus enzyme repertoire, a normalized cDNA library of was constructed using polyA-enruched RNA from workers, soldiers, nymphs and alates. Sequencing of this library generated over 131,000 ESTs, which were assembled into ~26,000 unigenes. About 47% of the assemblies had significant similarity to known proteins or domains. Among positively-matched assemblies, 50% shared similarity with proteins in other insects, 24% - with protozoa (consistent with the presence of parabasalid symbionts), and the remaining 26% - with bacteria, fungi, plants, vertebrates, etc. Termites (including castes worker, soldier and nymph) of C. formosanus were collected in New Orleans, Louisiana. Total RNA samples were extracted separately using TRIzol plus RNA purification kit. About 25% of the assemblies showed similarity with known proteins in other insects, 12% were similar with protozoa in Trichomonada, and another 12% to with bacteria, fungi, plants, and vertebrates.