Microecology of the termite gut: structure and function on a microscale

Abstract

Long considered simply as anoxic fermentors, termite guts are in fact axially and radially structured environments with physicochemically distinct microhabitats. Recent developments in termite gut microecology, which combined traditional and modern techniques, have focused on the spatial organization of important microbial populations and their in situ activities, and have significantly furthered our understanding of functional interactions within highly structured microenvironments.