9632134 Traniello Termites are among the most abundant and important insects in many ecosystems, owing to their ability to digest cellulose and recycle the nutrients that are found in leaf litter, humus and dead wood. And because of their wood-eating habits, termites have great economic impact as they are responsible for over $600 million dollars structural damage annually in the united States alone. In spite of their great ecological and economic significance, the biology of termites is poorly understood. There are two features of termite behavior and ecology that appear to have been pivotal in their evolutionary history and thus critical to understanding their biology. First, they are social, forming colonies of potentially millions of individuals. Second, they nest in soil and decaying wood. Their nest environments are rich in microbes such as fungi and bacteria, some of which may be agents of disease and mortality. Indeed, termites appear to be highly susceptible to many pathogens. We believe that these two elements of termite biology - social life and disease susceptibility - may be linked. Research into the ecology of disease, along with research on the evolution of physiological and biochemical mechanisms that allow termites to resist infection at both the individual and colony level, will provide important insights into termite social evolution. As a consequence of this research we will understand more about the nature of termite pathogens, their transmission within a colony and the ways termites cope with disease. This will in turn allow us to identify the natural vulnerabilities of termites that might be exploited to control them and thus limit their destructive potential. Moreover, studying termite pathogens and disease resistance may result in the development of novel, environmentally safe methods of termite control, as well as the isolation and chemical characterization of natural antibiotics that could have medicinal value.
