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. 2016 Feb 17;7:171. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2016.00171

FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 4

Comparison of Bacterial Taxa and Protists in R. flavipes Castes. Treponema, Endomicrobia, and protist abundances are lower in the alate castes compared to the worker caste. Hindgut samples were taken from worker and non-worker termites in various colonies. (A) Abundances for each caste were averaged and compared to the worker caste. In winged alates, the abundance of the two dominating taxa, Spirochaetales, and Endomicrobia, are lower in abundance compared to the worker caste. Enterobacteriales, Flavobacteriales, Pseudomonadales, and Neisseriales are present in very low abundances in the workers and soldiers, but were more abundant in the alate caste. Protists belonging to the phylum Parabasalia (B) and the order Oxymonadida (C) were quantified using qPCR. Each caste was compared to the worker caste using a one-way ANOVA. ∗ Indicates a significant value compared to the worker caste. (B) Parabasalia protists were less abundant in the winged alates [F(3,36) = 11.9, p < 0.0001]. (C) Oxymonadida protists were less abundant in the winged and de-winged alates compared to workers [F(3,36) = 36.94, p < 0.0001].