INTERRELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN YEASTS AND SOIL DIPLOPODS

Some functional interrelationships have been established between yeasts and the soil diplopods Pachyiulus flavipes C. L. Koch and Glomeris connexa C. L. Koch. Yeasts can serve as a food for diplopods when these animals are feeding on leaf litter. The digestion of yeast cells takes place mainly in the midgut as a result of enzymatic activity of the gut fluid. The midgut is a well-protected zone in which enzymatic activity prevents exogenic infection and thereby provides a steady-state environment for the yeast community. The hindgut is a region where specific yeasts can utilize readily-available carbon sources from leaf litter and hydrolyze uric acid-the end-product of nitrogen metabolism of the host animals. A model for yeast distribution in the gut of diplopods is described.