Entomology Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Entomology, including details on insects, parasites, diseases.

Lignin degradation in wood-feeding insects.

Geib SM, Filley TR, Hatcher PG, Hoover K, Carlson JE, Jimenez-Gasco Mdel M, Nakagawa-Izumi A, Sleighter RL, Tien M

Department of Entomology and Center for Chemical Ecology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.

The aromatic polymer lignin protects plants from most forms of microbial attack. Despite the fact that a significant fraction of all lignocellulose degraded passes through arthropod guts, the fate of lignin in these systems is not known. Using tetramethylammonium hydroxide thermochemolysis, we show lignin degradation by two insect species, the Asian longhorned beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis) and the Pacific dampwood termite (Zootermopsis angusticollis). In both the beetle and termite, significant levels of propyl side-chain oxidation (depolymerization) and demethylation of ring methoxyl groups is detected; for the termite, ring hydroxylation is also observed. In addition, culture-independent fungal gut community analysis of A. glabripennis identified a single species of fungus in the Fusarium solani/Nectria haematococca species complex. This is a soft-rot fungus that may be contributing to wood degradation. These results transform our understanding of lignin degradation by wood-feeding insects.

Published 3 September 2008 in Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 105(35): 12932-7.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2005-2011 Entomology Research Today. All Rights Reserved.