ECOLOGICAL STUDIES ON TILE SYMBIOSIS OF TER ITOMYCES ...

7-4-4 DISC=ICN
, All the cultures of TermitpMees decomposed cellulose* The
culture from Ancistrotermen eavithorax was a very poor producer of
callulasex And decomposition was not evident until 3-4 weeks after
setting up the experiment. In some cultureng e. g. MAC 369 the
celloplutne was cleared beyond the edge of the colony
(Plate 7-4,1),
this being one of the strongest producers of callulaseso In order to
decompooe the cellophane the Termitomyces cultures have to produce the
338-
full complement of enzymes needed to degrade native calluloac. Variations
In cellulose production occurred between Irux: uia of the name speciese
The Macrotermitinae have no symbiotic cellulose digesting protozoa
=4 there have been different theories as to how cellulose decomposition
occurs In the sub-family* There In evidence that the enzymes necessary
for the digestion of native cellulose occur In the Cut of several
species* e. g. Hkeratermes natalensin (Martin
Hacrotermes subhn1inus
and, H&ftIn 1978$ 19799)
(Abo-Khatwa 1978) and Odantotermes obesus
(Misra. and nanganathan 1954). The source of these enzymes were
considered to be bacteria by Misr& and Ranganathan, Rohrmann and
Rosman (1980) found cellulose decomposing bacteria In the gut of
Hacrotermes ukuzlie They also found protozoa* In contrast Martin and
Martin showed that- Cl cam from Termlt2gmyce-s and. the Cý, and P. -
glucosidase front Ingested fungal material and partly from secretions
from the midgut epithelium and salivary glandse Abo-Khatwa (1978)
showed thatj in starved Hacrotemes subhyalinus the level of celloblase
remained uncluýngad but those of the other cellulolytic enzymes
decreased$ showing that the latter came from Termitomycese One of
the problems In using starvation techniques in that the levels of