INTERRELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN YEASTS AND SOIL DIPLOPODS

Some functional interrelationships have been established between yeast s and the soil diplopods Pachyiulus flavipes C. L. Koch and Glomeris c onnexa C. L. Koch. Yeasts can serve as a food for diplopods when these animals are feeding on leaf litter. The digestion of yeast cells take s 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 acti vity prevents exogenic infection and thereby provides a steady-state e nvironment for the yeast community. The hindgut is a region where spec ific yeasts can utilize readily-available carbon sources from leaf lit ter and hydrolyze uric acid-the end-product of nitrogen metabolism of the host animals. A model for yeast distribution in the gut of diplopo ds is described.