This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Termites are one of the few animal lineages able to digest the most abundant biomolecule on earth, lignocellulose. Of the nine families of termites, all but one of them eat wood, with the last feeding on soil. While termites produce enzymes that break down lignocellulose, their gut microbes are still a critical part of the digestion process. But most termite gut microbiome research to date is based on research from wood-feeding or pest species of termites. So, a recent study examined the prokaryotic gut microbes from a sample of termite species that better represent the diversity of termites. The gut microbes possessed a similar set of carbohydrate and nitrogen metabolism genes across the termite phylogenetic tree. The proportions of these genes varied with the hosts’ diet and position on the phylogenetic tree. Surprisingly, the soil-feeding termites didn't even have unique microbial metabolic genes or pathways compared to wood-feeding species..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Microbiomes across the entire planet connect numerous microorganisms to one another, but how are these communities themselves connected across the globe? To find out, researchers recently analyzed the massive Earth Microbiome Project dataset, which pools data about microbial life from around the world. The result was a planet-sized co-occurrence network of microorganisms. The network consists of 8 taxonomically distinct modules, each associated with a distinct environment. Studying the network’s shape revealed microbial relationships that are essential to certain microbiomes, including relationships characterized by distinct levels of competition or niche differentiation. The network highlights the importance of understanding co-occurrence features of microbiomes and could offer global insight into how and why microbes are connected..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.