Fungal diversity in termite nests associated with tea (Camellia sinensis) plantations: insights from DNA metabarcoding and culture-based analyses.

Tea is a vital plantation crop in India with a significant global economic impact. Termites pose a substantial threat to tea production. This report characterises and compares the fungal communities present in the arboreal nest of the live wood-eating tea termite Microtermes obesi, called the gallery, and the above-ground nest of the scavenging tea termite Odontotermes obesus, called the mound, using DNA metabarcoding and culture-based identification methods. The metabarcoding analysis showed higher species richness and diversity in the arboreal gallery soil compared to the mound soil. The phylum Ascomycota was predominantly found, with Eurotiomycetes and Dothideomycetes being the most abundant classes in the mound and Sordariomycetes and Saccharomycetes in gallery soil. Culture and ITS sequencing identified unique lignocellulolytic fungal species like Xylogone sp., Lasiodiplodia sp., Arthrinium sp., Phanerochaete sp. in the mound soil and Cunninghamella sp., Scedosporium sp., Purpureocillium sp., Gongronella sp. in the gallery soil. Genera like Penicillium and Trichoderma were abundantly obtained through the studies involving both DNA metabarcoding and culture-based analyses of all soil samples. The presence of lignocellulolytic fungi suggested their role in pre-digesting plant material, aiding termite's survival. These findings highlighted the value of combining culture-independent and culture-based methods to explore fungal adaptation to specific ecological niches and their ecological functions in an agroecosystem.