Termite gut microbes get names that rock

Shortly after a Spanish post-doctoral fellow in the Keeling lab at University of British Columbia was introduced by his boss to the Canadian rock band Rush he peered through the microscope at protists from the guts of termites. With their long hairs (aka flagella) and dance moves, he couldn’t help but see a resemblance to the 70s version of Rush members Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart. The research team agreed to name their newly discovered species of protists after these musicians. They’ve made a fabulous YouTube video where you can watch Pseudotrichonympha leei, Pseudotrichonympha lifesoni, and Pseudotrichonympha pearti seemingly rocking out to Rush music.

These new species of Pseudotrichonympha add to the list of symbiotic gut flagellates that give certain termites the ability to digest wood, while other types of termites use bacterial symbionts and fungi. In a practical sense understanding how termites and their symbiont helpers digest wood could lead to innovations like generating fuel from woody biomass. From a pure discovery perspective, these newly described organisms add to our catalogue of living things on earth. Despite being everywhere, it is estimated 99.999% of earths microbes are yet to be undiscovered.

It is known that living within and on the surface of Pseudotrichonympha there are tinier microbes, bacteria and archaea. When the Keeling lab noticed a unique round spinning disc structure inside of Pseudotrichonympha they checked to see if it was such a microbe. However when they burst open their Pseudotrichonympha specimens it disappeared and it didn’t light up when they stained the cells with a DNA labelling dye. This meant that instead of being a bacterial symbiont, which would have its own DNA, it might be a new type of cellular organelle. Organelles are structures within a cell that perform functions. For example mitochondria are the organelles that produces the energy molecule ATP that powers cellular processes. For now the function of this new organelle which the team called a rotatosome is a mystery.

Many other pop culture and musician names have been incorporated into scientific names, like a horse fly named after Beyonce because of its appearance and a plant named after Jimmy Hendrix to bring attention to conservation. The Rush protists might be the first Canadian musicians to be memorialized in taxonomy records where the authors state that these rockers “have inspired an interest in natural history and science through art.” On twitter @rushtheband said, “Having a microbe named after each us is a hugely tiny honour! Love it”

Principle investigator Patrick Keeling told the Toronto Star that he thought the names were a good idea because it would attract attention and engage non-scientists. It certainly attracted attention as many science news outlets covered the story.  The Keeling lab’s YouTube video is up on their website along with other endeavors that they hope will create more interest in the microbial world, which outside the context of human disease, is often overlooked.

It is fitting that Rush, an overlooked band in the rock world, passed over by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for many years until finally getting inducted in 2013, should help bring an obscure biological field more recognition. Now that Javier del Campo, the first author of the paper, has returned to Spain, I wonder if he is sharing his taste for Rush, along with his research expertise.

Campo, J. D., James, E. R., Hirakawa, Y., Fiorito, R., Kolisko, M., Irwin, N. A., . . . Keeling, P. J. (2017). Pseudotrichonympha leei, Pseudotrichonympha lifesoni, and Pseudotrichonympha pearti, new species of parabasalian flagellates and the description of a rotating subcellular structure. Scientific Reports, 7(1). doi:10.1038/s41598-017-16259-8

Brune, A. (2014). Symbiotic digestion of lignocellulose in termite guts. Nature Reviews Microbiology, 12(3), 168-180. doi:10.1038/nrmicro3182

New microbes named after Rush members. The Toronto Star, By Brennan Doherty, Nov 28, 2017