ECOLOGICAL STUDIES ON TILE SYMBIOSIS OF TER ITOMYCES ...

iiaves
of crasses on"vhicih they aro foraging Whrmann 1978)o This
ratio decreases an Vio'comb ages indicating lionin 1ýýeakdown 6y
Termit2Mcez an d*zcrLbvA above* Grasse6 and Nolrot (1961) considered
the lignin to cellulose ratios Indicated -relatively undigested plant
materials were usedo As the majority of cemb analyses are based on
whole comb on. which_TPrm1t2Mc4-js has accomplished some lignin amd cellulose
breakdowns little can really be drawn from the Ugnin, to cellulose ratios*
In contrast Abo-Khatwa, (1977) obtained a very high lignin to cellulose
ratio for Macrotermes vubhyalimts indicating partially digested plant
material had been used for Its construction. Datra and Batra (1979)
found all combs had loss cellulose than the raw materialso This would
indicate swo prior digestion of cellulose may occur before It reaches
the c(=bo White rotting fungi have different strategies as to how they
attack lignin and cellulose* but one of the taost usual In to attack
lignin firsts followed by cellulose and this probably occurs In the comb.
It to likely that different termites have different strategies. In
species where the food in mixed with TemitomXces In the Cut it Is likely
that some decomposition occurs prior to deposition on the fungus comb,
340e
The most likely scheme may be that the zmterial in deposited on the comb
by the foragers with more or less Intact lignin, with perhaps some
accessible cellulose having been digested* Comminution of plant material
by termites will rupture cell walls exposing cell contents to the action
of gut enzymes or enzymes of Termltggyces In the out. This lit an
Important difference from "straightl wood decay by fungle Termitgw con
then breaks down the lignin cellulose complexes, the termites reeat the
comb with fungal material and cellulose digestion In completed* Cellulo-
lytic bacteria have been Isolated from the comb (Batra and Datra 1979).