Profiling the metatranscriptome of the protistan community in Coptotermes formosanus with emphasis on the lignocellulolytic system

The symbiotic protists in the hindgut of lower termites are critical for lignocellulose decomposition. Due to the unculturability of these protists, information on lignocellulases and their abundance within the gut is unavailable. The advent of high-throughput sequencing technologies enables an investigation of the gene expression profile in this community without culturing these organisms. Here, we carried out 454 pyrosequencing to profile the metatranscriptome of the protistan community in Coptotermes formosanus. In total, 223,477 reads were obtained by sequencing the enriched protistan mRNA. Phagocytosis and cytoskeletal homeostasis pathways were highly represented in the metatranscriptome. Among the metabolic pathways, starch and sucrose metabolism were dominant. A detailed analysis combining Pfam and KEGG annotation identified 118 glycosyl hydrolases belonging to 18 different glycosyl hydrolase families (GHFs). Subsequently, a novel GHF10 endo-1,4-beta-xylanase was functionally characterized to complement our understanding of the protistan hemicellulases.

► We sequenced the protist metatranscriptome using 454 for the first time.
► We identified a set of glycosyl hydrolases from the protist community.
► A novel endo-1,4-beta-xylanase of GHF10 was functionally characterized.
► Our result serves as a valuable database for studying the function of the protists.