@article{beza-beza_wiegmann_ware_petersen_gunter_cole_schwarz_bertone_young_mikaelyan_2024, title={Chewing through challenges: Exploring the evolutionary pathways to wood-feeding in insects}, volume={3}, ISSN={["1521-1878"]}, url={https://doi.org/10.1002/bies.202300241}, DOI={10.1002/bies.202300241}, abstractNote={Abstract}, journal={BIOESSAYS}, author={Beza-Beza, Cristian F. and Wiegmann, Brian M. and Ware, Jessica A. and Petersen, Matt and Gunter, Nicole and Cole, Marissa E. and Schwarz, Melbert and Bertone, Matthew A. and Young, Daniel and Mikaelyan, Aram}, year={2024}, month={Mar} }
 @article{schwarz_tokuda_osaki_mikaelyan_2023, title={Reevaluating Symbiotic Digestion in Cockroaches: Unveiling the Hindgut's Contribution to Digestion in Wood-Feeding Panesthiinae (Blaberidae)}, volume={14}, ISSN={["2075-4450"]}, url={https://doi.org/10.3390/insects14090768}, DOI={10.3390/insects14090768}, abstractNote={Cockroaches of the subfamily Panesthiinae (family Blaberidae) are among the few major groups of insects feeding on decayed wood. Despite having independently evolved the ability to thrive on this recalcitrant and nitrogen-limited resource, they are among the least studied of all wood-feeding insect groups. In the pursuit of unraveling their unique digestive strategies, we explored cellulase and xylanase activity in the crop, midgut, and hindgut lumens of Panesthia angustipennis and Salganea taiwanensis. Employing Percoll density gradient centrifugation, we further fractionated luminal fluid to elucidate how the activities in the gut lumen are further partitioned. Our findings challenge conventional wisdom, underscoring the significant contribution of the hindgut, which accounts for approximately one-fifth of cellulase and xylanase activity. Particle-associated enzymes, potentially of bacterial origin, dominate hindgut digestion, akin to symbiotic strategies observed in select termites and passalid beetles. Our study sheds new light on the digestive prowess of panesthiine cockroaches, providing invaluable insights into the evolution of wood-feeding insects and their remarkable adaptability to challenging, nutrient-poor substrates.}, number={9}, journal={INSECTS}, author={Schwarz, Melbert and Tokuda, Gaku and Osaki, Haruka and Mikaelyan, Aram}, year={2023}, month={Sep} }
 @article{schwarz_beza-beza_mikaelyan_2023, title={Wood fibers are a crucial microhabitat for cellulose- and xylan- degrading bacteria in the hindgut of the wood-feeding beetle Odontotaenius disjunctus}, volume={14}, ISSN={["1664-302X"]}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1173696}, DOI={10.3389/fmicb.2023.1173696}, abstractNote={IntroductionWood digestion in insects relies on the maintenance of a mosaic of numerous microhabitats, each colonized by distinct microbiomes. Understanding the division of digestive labor between these microhabitats- is central to understanding the physiology and evolution of symbiotic wood digestion. A microhabitat that has emerged to be of direct relevance to the process of lignocellulose digestion is the surface of ingested plant material. Wood particles in the guts of some termites are colonized by a specialized bacterial fiber-digesting microbiome, but whether this represents a widespread strategy among insect lineages that have independently evolved wood-feeding remains an open question.}, journal={FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY}, publisher={Frontiers Media SA}, author={Schwarz, Melbert and Beza-Beza, Cristian. F. F. and Mikaelyan, Aram}, year={2023}, month={Jun} }