Termites successfully feed on various forms of lignocellulose and have optimised their cellulose-degrading consortia over evolutionary time, leading to the idea that their gut communities are highly conserved. Influences on the gut community over shorter time scales were investigated to tease apart vertically transferred and environmentally acquired portions of the gut community, using two endemic Western Australian termites with broad diets, Tumulitermes westraliensis and Amitermes obeuntis. We characterised intraspecific variation to show colony and caste differences and a strong effect of location on gut communities. A three week field study resulted in a significant effect of diet in both species, with minimal non-target impacts on the termites of interest. Finally, the inconsistent presence of protists in the gut was also supported by both observational and sequencing data, providing another factor shaping the gut community, perhaps seasonally.
Core communities made up of taxa shared by all samples included in the analysis are thought to play key roles in the gut and depending on the types of samples included, these can help draw conclusions about their source. A species level core community was described, made up of 56 and 116 taxa for T. westraliensis and A. obeuntis respectively, some or all of which are likely passed down from generation to generation. Taxa shared across species or specific to a diet or location were also determined and their functions inferred. Taxa exclusive to a location or feeding group are likely to be environmentally acquired, ingested with food or soil, particularly if these are shared across species. Together, these findings highlight the plasticity of the gut community and its potential as a model system for optimisation of industrial applications.