Diversity of formyltetrahydrofolate synthetases in the guts of the wood-feeding cockroach Cryptocercus punctulatus and the omnivorous cockroach Periplaneta americana

Abstract

We examined the diversity of a marker gene for homoacetogens in two cockroach gut microbial communities. Formyltetrahydrofolate synthetase (FTHFS or fhs) libraries prepared from a wood-feeding cockroach, Cryptocercus punctulatus, were dominated by sequences that affiliated with termite gut treponemes. No spirochete-like sequences were recovered from the omnivorous roach Periplaneta americana, which was dominated by Firmicutes-like sequences.