DOCSLIB.ORG

Fungal Communities in Gardens of the Leafcutter Ant Atta Cephalotes in Forest and Cabruca Agrosystems of Southern Bahia State (Brazil)

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Fungal Communities in Gardens of the Leafcutter Ant Atta Cephalotes in Forest and Cabruca Agrosystems of Southern Bahia State (Brazil) fungal biology 119 (2015) 1170e1178 journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/funbio Fungal communities in gardens of the leafcutter ant Atta cephalotes in forest and cabruca agrosystems of southern Bahia State (Brazil) Barbara Monique dos Santos REISa, Aline SILVAa, Martın Roberto ALVAREZa,Tassio Brito de OLIVEIRAb, Andre RODRIGUESb,c,* aUESC e Santa Cruz State University, Department of Biological Sciences, Ilheus, BA 45662-900, Brazil bUNESP e Sao~ Paulo State University, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rio Claro, SP 13560-900, Brazil cUNESP e Sao~ Paulo State University, Center for the Study of Social Insects, Rio Claro, SP 13560-900, Brazil article info abstract Article history: Leaf-cutting ants interact with several fungi in addition to the fungal symbiont they culti- Received 25 May 2015 vate for food. Here, we assessed alien fungal communities in colonies of Atta cephalotes. Received in revised form Fungus garden fragments were sampled from colonies in the Atlantic Rainforest and in 3 September 2015 a cabruca agrosystem in the state of Bahia (Brazil) in two distinct periods to evaluate Accepted 3 September 2015 whether differences in nest habitat influence the diversity of fungi in the ant colonies. Available online 11 September 2015 We recovered a total of 403 alien fungi isolates from 628 garden fragments. The prevalent Corresponding Editor: taxa found in these samples were Escovopsis sp. (26 %), Escovopsioides nivea (24 %), and Tri- Nicholas P. Money choderma spirale (10.9 %). Fungal diversity was similar between the colonies sampled in both areas suggesting that ants focus on reducing loads of alien fungi in the fungus gardens in- Keywords: stead of avoiding specific fungi. However, fungal taxa composition differed between colo- Alien fungi nies sampled in the two areas and between the sampling periods. These differences are Atlantic Rainforest likely explained by the availability of plant substrates available for foraging over habitats Escovopsis and periods. Ordination analysis further supported that sampling period was the main at- Fungus garden tribute for community structuring but also revealed that additional factors may explain the Interaction structuring of fungal communities in colonies of A. cephalotes. Symbiosis ª 2015 The British Mycological Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Introduction fungal partner to obtain nutrients. The majority of ants in the tribe Attini evolved complex fungicultural systems in Fungus farming by insects arose independently in ant, ter- which mutualistic fungi are cultivated as the main food mite, and beetle lineages. Such insects usually nourish their source for the colony (Weber 1972; Schultz & Brady 2008; * Corresponding author. Avenida 24-A, n. 1515, Bela Vista, Rio Claro, Sao~ Paulo, Brazil, Zipcode: 13.506-900. Tel.: þ55 19 3526 4364; fax: þ55 19 3526 4176. E-mail address: [email protected] (A. Rodrigues). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.funbio.2015.09.001 1878-6146/ª 2015 The British Mycological Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Fungal communities in ant colonies 1171 Ward et al. 2015). A subset of species in the tribe Attini, leaf- cutting ants of the genera Atta and Acromyrmex forage mainly Material and methods on leaves and flower parts, which serve as substrates for the cultivation of a basidiomycetous fungus, Leucoagaricus gongy- Sampling lophorus. This fungus is the domesticated mutualistic partner grown for food by leafcutter ants (Schultz & Brady 2008). Fungus gardens of Atta cephalotes were sampled at The Private Fungus gardens of leaf-cutting ants are continuously Reserve of Natural Heritage (RPPN) Serra Bonita, located in the threatened by invading fungi carried on and inside the plant municipalities of Camacan and Pau-Brasil in southern Bahia substrate foraged by ant workers (Fisher et al. 1996; State, Brazil. This reserve comprises several areas within a dis- Rodrigues et al. 2008; Van Bael et al. 2009). In addition, such tinct altitudinal gradient (between 200 and 990 m). Disturbed alien fungi are also transported on the integument of workers areas are abundant in the lower sections of the reserve, in- and reproductive alates (Guedes et al. 2012; Arcuri et al. 2014). cluding the Cabruca systems and pasture. On the other Although several behavioural and chemical strategies hand, higher lands or slope lands were not favourable for rear- employed by ants decrease the microbial loads in the fungus ing cattle, so those areas remained intact (hereafter called gardens, several fungi endure such strategies and remain in ‘Forest’). the garden matrix (Fernandez-Mar ın et al. 2009). These fungi Fungus gardens were sampled from six colonies found in may ultimately compete with the resident fungal cultivar, as the forest and six colonies found in the cabruca. A total of 12 shown in dual culture assays (Silva et al. 2006; Folgarait et al. fungus gardens were sampled (Table S1) in two distinct pe- 2011). riods: (i) from June 30 to August 4, 2012 (winter) and (ii) from Among such detrimental microorganisms, fungi in the February 18 to March 14, 2013 (summer). Once nests were lo- genus Escovopsis are a paramount example of parasites cated, excavation followed the method described in that inhibit the growth of L. gongylophorus (Currie et al. Rodrigues et al. (2014) to avoid having loose soil fall on the 1999). Considered a mycoparasite of the ant cultivar top of the fungus garden. Fungus gardens with tending (Reynolds & Currie 2004), ant colonies infected with this par- workers and brood (and with alates in some cases) were col- asite experience an impact on their fitness, ultimately lead- lected with a sterile spoon, kept in plastic containers and ing the colony to death (Currie 2001; Wallace et al. 2014). In transported to the laboratory for fungal isolation. We ob- addition to Escovopsis, several genera of alien fungi are re- served two sections in all sampled fungus gardens: the top peatedly found in attine ant colonies and were reported to (where new leaf substrate is added) and the bottom part occur as antagonists of the ant cultivar (Silva et al. 2006; (exhausted substrate). A composite sample made from both Van Bael et al. 2009). sections was plated in the culture media, mostly within 1 or Although several reports have demonstrated the occur- 2 d after collection, but some samples were plated within rence and prevalence of alien fungi, few studies have eval- 3e4 d after collection (see Table S1 for more details). uated the factors that influence such fungal communities in fungus-growing attine ant colonies. Previous work indi- Isolation and identification cated that diversity and composition of alien fungi in attine ant colonies varied over a yearlong survey with no apparent Fungus garden fragments of approximately 3 mm3, free of patterns (Rodrigues et al. 2011). That study suggested sev- tending workers or brood, were inoculated onto plates con- eral attributing factors might have accounted for such var- taining the following culture media: Potato Dextrose Agar iations, including the type of substrate foraged by ants and (PDA, Acumedia, a nutrient-rich medium), Malt Agar 2 % the area where the ants were nesting. However, no other (MA2 %, Acumedia, a nutrient-balanced medium) and Syn- study examined whether such factors are the major attri- thetic Nutrient Agar (SNA, a nutrient-poor medium), all sup- À butes that drive alien fungal community structure in attine plemented with 150 mgmL1 of chloramphenicol ant colonies. (SigmaeAldrich, St. Louis, MO, USA). Five garden pieces were To understand the putative factors that explain the struc- inoculated in each of the five plates for each media. Thus, ture of fungal communities in leaf-cutting ant colonies, we from the 12 gardens sampled, a total of 900 fragments were assessed whether differences in nesting areas influence the evaluated in the present study. Plates were incubated at fungal communities present in colonies of Atta cephalotes, 25 C, for 14 d in the dark and monitored daily for fungal a species that preferentially occurs in natural areas but also growth. Fungi were transferred to MA2 % plates and checked in cabruca agroforest systems in the state of Bahia, Brazil for any signs of contamination. For sporulating fungi, we car- (Delabie 1990). The latter are considered modified agricultural ried out monosporic cultures to obtain axenic isolates. systems because they are used to cultivate cocoa (Theobroma We used a combination of classical and molecular tools to cacao L.) in a semi preserved habitat. Here, we tested variation identify the filamentous fungi. First, isolates were screened in the richness, composition, and structure of fungal commu- based on the morphological characteristics of the colony and nities according to the study area. In fact, A. cephalotes is com- the microscopic reproductive structures. The resulting mor- mon in primary forests; thus, the plant substrate availability phospecies were further examined and representative iso- may be a major factor in changes in fungal communities in lates were cryopreserved in glycerol 10 % at À80 C and the fungus gardens. We expected to find that fungal diversity deposited at UNESP-Microbial Resources Center, Rio Claro, in colonies from cabruca agroforests was lower than in the SP, Brazil. forests, due to the reduced availability of substrates in the Second, we sequenced the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) former. for representative isolates of each morphoespecies. 1172 B. M. dosS. Reis et al. Specifically, for morphospecies that have large number of differences (dissimilarity) of fungal communities, we carried strains, we sequenced 3e4 strains per morphospecies. For out similarity percentage analysis e SIMPER (Clarke & morphospecies that had a single strain, we sequenced the Warwick 2001). Finally, to verify the possible factors that one strain. Genomic DNA extraction followed a combined pro- shape the fungal communities among the samples from the tocol from Moller et al. (1992) and Gerardo et al. (2004) using 12 colonies, we carried out an ordination analysis using non- fresh mycelia.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Spatial Ecology of Leafcutter Ants, Isla Del Cielo Reserve, Barú, Costa Rica
    Research Reports of the Firestone Center for Restoration Ecology v. 1 2005 Spatial Ecology of Leafcutter Ants, Isla del Cielo Reserve, Barú, Costa Rica Christopher Wheeler Pitzer College Summer 2005 I. Introduction There are 38 different species of Leaf-cutting ants restricted to two genera Acromyrmex (24 species) and Atta (14 species). These two genera belong to the tribe of fungus-growing ants called, Attini. Attini are confined to the New World between the latitudes of ~33oN and ~44oS. Though considered a pest, these species of leaf-cutting ants cause damage only in the areas that they are indigenous to (except for a few exceptions) (Lofgren & Meer, 1986). Townsend (1923) reported that in the absence of their control, leaf-cutting ants are capable of affecting 1000 million U.S dollars of damage a year. The damage covers a wide array of industries, damaging pastureland and stock, agricultural and horticultural crops, plantation forests, dried foodstuffs, roads, and the foundations of buildings (Lofgren & Meer, 1986). Leaf-cutting ants express a striking degree of polyphagy. Even in species-rich tropical rain forests, 50% to 77% of the plant species are harvested by leaf-cutting ants (Lofgren & Meer, 1986). Leaf-cutting ants are the dominant herbivore in the neotropics, harvesting an estimated 12-17% of all leaf production in a forest (Perfecto & Vandermeer, 1993). These harvested leaf fragments are brought underground to the ants’ colony where they are used as a medium for fungus. This fungus is the main food source for the whole colony. The spent leaf fragments are then either brought to the surface and deposited onto large nutrient-rich refuse piles, or transported to another chamber underground where they are mixed with excavated earth.
    [Show full text]
  • Ant–Fungus Species Combinations Engineer Physiological Activity Of
    © 2014. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd | The Journal of Experimental Biology (2014) 217, 2540-2547 doi:10.1242/jeb.098483 RESEARCH ARTICLE Ant–fungus species combinations engineer physiological activity of fungus gardens J. N. Seal1,2,*, M. Schiøtt3 and U. G. Mueller2 ABSTRACT such complexity, the fungus-gardening insects have evolved obligate Fungus-gardening insects are among the most complex organisms macro-symbioses with specific clades of fungi, and use fungal because of their extensive co-evolutionary histories with obligate symbionts essentially as an external digestive organ that allows the fungal symbionts and other microbes. Some fungus-gardening insect insect to thrive on otherwise non-digestible substrates, such as lineages share fungal symbionts with other members of their lineage structural carbohydrates of plants (e.g. cellulose) (Aanen et al., and thus exhibit diffuse co-evolutionary relationships, while others 2002; Aylward et al., 2012a; Aylward et al., 2012b; Bacci et al., exhibit little or no symbiont sharing, resulting in host–fungus fidelity. 1995; Farrell et al., 2001; De Fine Licht and Biedermann, 2012; The mechanisms that maintain this symbiont fidelity are currently Martin, 1987a; Mueller et al., 2005). One of the most striking unknown. Prior work suggested that derived leaf-cutting ants in the attributes of these symbioses is the degree of physiological genus Atta interact synergistically with leaf-cutter fungi (Attamyces) integration: the insect host functions as a distributor of fungal by exhibiting higher fungal growth rates and enzymatic activities than enzymes, which digest plant fibers external to the insect’s body when growing a fungus from the sister-clade to Attamyces (so-called (Aanen and Eggleton, 2005; Aylward et al., 2012b; De Fine Licht ‘Trachymyces’), grown primarily by the non-leaf cutting and Biedermann, 2012; De Fine Licht et al., 2013; Martin, 1987b; Trachymyrmex ants that form, correspondingly, the sister-clade to Schiøtt et al., 2010).
    [Show full text]
  • Escovopsioides As a Fungal Antagonist of the Fungus Cultivated by Leafcutter Ants Julio Flavio Osti1 and Andre Rodrigues1,2*
    Osti and Rodrigues BMC Microbiology (2018) 18:130 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12866-018-1265-x RESEARCHARTICLE Open Access Escovopsioides as a fungal antagonist of the fungus cultivated by leafcutter ants Julio Flavio Osti1 and Andre Rodrigues1,2* Abstract Background: Fungus gardens of fungus-growing (attine) ants harbor complex microbiomes in addition to the mutualistic fungus they cultivate for food. Fungi in the genus Escovopsioides were recently described as members of this microbiome but their role in the ant-fungus symbiosis is poorly known. In this study, we assessed the phylogenetic diversity of 21 Escovopsioides isolates obtained from fungus gardens of leafcutter ants (genera Atta and Acromyrmex) and non-leafcutter ants (genera Trachymyrmex and Apterostigma) sampled from several regions in Brazil. Results: Regardless of the sample locality or ant genera, phylogenetic analysis showed low genetic diversity among the 20 Escovopsisoides isolates examined, which prompted the identification as Escovopsioides nivea (the only described species in the genus). In contrast, one Escovopsioides isolate obtained from a fungus garden of Apterostigma megacephala was considered a new phylogenetic species. Dual-culture plate assays showed that Escovopsioides isolates inhibited the mycelium growth of Leucoagaricus gongylophorus, the mutualistic fungus cultivated by somes species of leafcutter ants. In addition, Escovopsioides growth experiments in fungus gardens with and without ant workers showed this fungus is detrimental to the ant-fungus symbiosis. Conclusions: Here, we provide clues for the antagonism of Escovopsioides towards the mutualistic fungus of leafcutter ants. Keywords: Hypocreales, Attine ants, Escovopsis,Symbiosis Background garden. In fact, a diverse and rich microbial community Fungus-growing ants in the tribe Attini are found only on consisting of bacteria, yeasts, and filamentous fungi are also the American continent [1].
    [Show full text]
  • The Coexistence
    Myrmecological News 13 37-55 2009, Online Earlier Natural history and phylogeny of the fungus-farming ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae: Attini) Natasha J. MEHDIABADI & Ted R. SCHULTZ Abstract Ants of the tribe Attini comprise a monophyletic group of approximately 230 described and many more undescribed species that obligately depend on the cultivation of fungus for food. In return, the ants nourish, protect, and disperse their fungal cultivars. Although all members of this tribe cultivate fungi, attine ants are surprisingly heterogeneous with regard to symbiont associations and agricultural system, colony size and social structure, nesting behavior, and mating system. This variation is a key reason that the Attini have become a model system for understanding the evolution of complex symbioses. Here, we review the natural-history traits of fungus-growing ants in the context of a recently published phylo- geny, collating patterns of evolution and symbiotic coadaptation in a variety of colony and fungus-gardening traits in a number of major lineages. We discuss the implications of these patterns and suggest future research directions. Key words: Hymenoptera, Formicidae, fungus-growing ants, leafcutter ants, colony life, natural history, evolution, mating, agriculture, review. Myrmecol. News 13: 37-55 (online xxx 2008) ISSN 1994-4136 (print), ISSN 1997-3500 (online) Received 12 June 2009; revision received 24 September 2009; accepted 28 September 2009 Dr. Natasha J. Mehdiabadi* (contact author) & Dr. Ted R. Schultz* (contact author), Department of Entomology and Laboratories of Analytical Biology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, P.O. Box 37012, NHB, CE518, MRC 188, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA. E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] * Both authors contributed equally to the work.
    [Show full text]
  • Role of Arthropods in Maintaining Soil Fertility
    Agriculture 2013, 3, 629-659; doi:10.3390/agriculture3040629 OPEN ACCESS agriculture ISSN 2077-0472 www.mdpi.com/journal/agriculture Review Role of Arthropods in Maintaining Soil Fertility Thomas W. Culliney Plant Epidemiology and Risk Analysis Laboratory, Plant Protection and Quarantine, Center for Plant Health Science and Technology, USDA-APHIS, 1730 Varsity Drive, Suite 300, Raleigh, NC 27606, USA; E-Mail: [email protected]; Tel.: +1-919-855-7506; Fax: +1-919-855-7595 Received: 6 August 2013; in revised form: 31 August 2013 / Accepted: 3 September 2013 / Published: 25 September 2013 Abstract: In terms of species richness, arthropods may represent as much as 85% of the soil fauna. They comprise a large proportion of the meso- and macrofauna of the soil. Within the litter/soil system, five groups are chiefly represented: Isopoda, Myriapoda, Insecta, Acari, and Collembola, the latter two being by far the most abundant and diverse. Arthropods function on two of the three broad levels of organization of the soil food web: they are plant litter transformers or ecosystem engineers. Litter transformers fragment, or comminute, and humidify ingested plant debris, which is deposited in feces for further decomposition by micro-organisms, and foster the growth and dispersal of microbial populations. Large quantities of annual litter input may be processed (e.g., up to 60% by termites). The comminuted plant matter in feces presents an increased surface area to attack by micro-organisms, which, through the process of mineralization, convert its organic nutrients into simpler, inorganic compounds available to plants. Ecosystem engineers alter soil structure, mineral and organic matter composition, and hydrology.
    [Show full text]
  • Download PDF File (1517KB)
    ISSN 1994-4136 (print) ISSN 1997-3500 (online) Myrmecological News Volume 27 August 2018 Schriftleitung / editors Florian M. STEINER (Editor-in-Chief), Birgit C. SCHLICK-STEINER, Daniel J.C. KRONAUER Fachredakteure / subject editors Jens DAUBER, Falko P. DRIJFHOUT, Evan ECONOMO, Heike FELDHAAR, Nicholas J. GOTELLI, Heikki O. HELANTERÄ, John S. LAPOLLA, Philip J. LESTER, Timothy A. LINKSVAYER, Alexander S. MIKHEYEV, Ivette PERFECTO, Christian RABELING, Bernhard RONACHER, Helge SCHLÜNS, Chris R. SMITH, Andrew V. SUAREZ, Herbert ZETTEL Online Editor / online editor Patrick KRAPF Wissenschaftliche Beratung / editorial advisory board Barry BOLTON, Jacobus J. BOOMSMA, Alfred BUSCHINGER, Daniel CHERIX, Jacques H.C. DELABIE, Katsuyuki EGUCHI, Xavier ESPADALER, Bert HÖLLDOBLER, Ajay NARENDRA, Zhanna REZNIKOVA, Michael J. SAMWAYS, Bernhard SEIFERT, Philip S. WARD Eigentümer, Herausgeber, Verleger / publisher © 2018 Österreichische Gesellschaft für Entomofaunistik c/o Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, Burgring 7, 1010 Wien, Österreich (Austria) Myrmecological News 27 59-74 Vienna, August 2018 Symbiotic partnerships and their chemical interactions in the leafcutter ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Sarah F. WORSLEY, Tabitha M. INNOCENT, Daniel HEINE, J. Colin MURRELL, Douglas W. YU, Barrie WILKINSON, Matthew I. HUTchINGS, Jacobus J. BOOMSma & Neil A. HOLMES Abstract Leafcutter ants are indigenous to Central and South America and the southern US and are noticeable for their active herbivorous behaviours, collecting mostly fresh plant parts to manure underground gardens of their Leucoagaricus gongylophorus fungal cultivars. These gardens contain a single clone of the cultivar but are also susceptible to path- ogens, most notably the specialised mycopathogen Escovopsis. Pathogen pressure led to the evolution of intensive grooming behaviours assisted by antimicrobials produced in endocrine glands and by domesticated antibiotic-producing actinobacteria grown on the integument of workers.
    [Show full text]
  • Nutrition Mediates the Expression of Cultivar–Farmer Conflict in a Fungus-Growing Ant
    Nutrition mediates the expression of cultivar–farmer conflict in a fungus-growing ant Jonathan Z. Shika,b,1, Ernesto B. Gomezb, Pepijn W. Kooija,c, Juan C. Santosd, William T. Wcislob, and Jacobus J. Boomsmaa aCentre for Social Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark; bSmithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Republic of Panama; cJodrell Laboratory, Comparative Plant and Fungal Biology, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond TW9 3DS, United Kingdom; and dDepartment of Biology, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602 Edited by Bert Hölldobler, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, and approved July 8, 2016 (received for review April 16, 2016) Attine ants evolved farming 55–60 My before humans. Although whose sexual fruiting bodies represent considerable investments. evolutionarily derived leafcutter ants achieved industrial-scale farm- An illustrative example is offered by the fungus-growing attine ing, extant species from basal attine genera continue to farm loosely ants, whose dispersing queens transmit symbionts vertically and domesticated fungal cultivars capable of pursuing independent re- whose farming workers therefore actively suppress wasteful for- productive interests. We used feeding experiments with the basal mation of inedible mushrooms (16, 17). Another example is pro- attine Mycocepurus smithii to test whether reproductive allocation vided by two independently derived lineages of fungus-growing Termitomyces conflicts between farmers and cultivars
    [Show full text]
  • Directional Vibration Sensing in the Leafcutter Ant Atta Sexdens Felix A
    © 2017. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd | Biology Open (2017) 6, 1949-1952 doi:10.1242/bio.029587 RESEARCH ARTICLE Directional vibration sensing in the leafcutter ant Atta sexdens Felix A. Hager1,2,*, Lea Kirchner1 and Wolfgang H. Kirchner1 ABSTRACT Ants should be confronted with a comparable selection pressure Leafcutter ants communicate with the substrate-borne component of on the extraction of directional information out of the vibrational the vibratory emission produced by stridulation. Stridulatory signals in signal. In this context, leafcutter ants of the genus Atta are the genus Atta have been described in different behavioural contexts, particularly interesting to study. The leafcutter ants can be reared in such as foraging, alarm signalling and collective nest building. the laboratory and forage in the open. Workers can easily be Stridulatory vibrations are employed to recruit nestmates, which can motivated to enter certain experimental set-ups, simply by offering localize the source of vibration, but there is little information about the forage. Atta sexdens is relatively well studied in terms of both underlying mechanisms. Our experiments reveal that time-of-arrival vibrational and chemical communication. For these and the delays of the vibrational signals are used for tropotactic orientation in following reasons, Atta sexdens is particularly suitable as a model Atta sexdens. The detected time delays are in the same range as the system to investigate directional vibration sensing as well as its time delays detected by termites. Chemical communication is also of interplay with chemical communication signals. Like many other great importance in foraging organization, and signals of different ant species, A.
    [Show full text]
  • VIRULENCE of the FUNGI Escovopsis and Escovopsioides to the LEAFCUTTER ANT-FUNGUS SYMBIOSIS
    DÉBORA MELLO FURTADO DE MENDONÇA VIRULENCE OF THE FUNGI Escovopsis AND Escovopsioides TO THE LEAFCUTTER ANT-FUNGUS SYMBIOSIS Dissertação apresentada à Universidade Federal de Viçosa, como parte das exigências do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Entomologia, para obtenção do título de Magister Scientiae. VIÇOSA MINAS GERAIS - BRASIL 2018 “É preciso força pra sonhar e perceber que a estrada vai além do que se vê.” Los Hermanos ii AGRADECIMENTOS Em primeiro lugar, agradeço a Deus, pois sei que Ele está sempre ao meu lado me dando forças, sabedoria e serenidade. Agradeço aos meus amados pais Penha e Sérgio por sempre terem me incentivado a estudar e me apoiado durante todo o mestrado, vocês são meus maiores exemplos. Também agradeço aos meus irmãos Sérgio Thiago, Carlos Eduardo e Dario por serem meus grandes amigos e companheiros. À Universidade Federal de Viçosa e ao Programa de Pós-Graduação em Entomologia pela oportunidade. À FAPEMIG pelo apoio financeiro. À CAPES pelo suporte e apoio financeiro através do Programa Pesquisador Visitante Especial 2014 #88881.068090/2014-01. Ao professor Simon Luke Elliot por ter me concedido a oportunidade de ser sua orientada de mestrado. Obrigada pela confiança e parceria. Sem dúvida foram dois anos de muitos desafios e aprendizado. Aos meus queridos amigos do Laboratório de Interações Inseto-Microrganismo, pelas excelentes discussões sobre o trabalho, auxílio nos experimentos, troca de conhecimentos, correções e especialmente pela ótima convivência. À técnica Verônica Fialho por sempre manter nosso ambiente de trabalho organizado, pelo auxílio no registro do projeto e demais assuntos relacionados à rotina de trabalho do laboratório.
    [Show full text]
  • Foundress Queen Mortality and Early Colony Growth of the Leafcutter Ant, Atta Texana (Formicidae, Hymenoptera)
    Insect. Soc. (2015) 62:357–363 DOI 10.1007/s00040-015-0413-7 Insectes Sociaux RESEARCH ARTICLE Foundress queen mortality and early colony growth of the leafcutter ant, Atta texana (Formicidae, Hymenoptera) 1 1 2 1 H. E. Marti • A. L. Carlson • B. V. Brown • U. G. Mueller Received: 26 September 2014 / Revised: 17 April 2015 / Accepted: 21 April 2015 / Published online: 8 May 2015 Ó International Union for the Study of Social Insects (IUSSI) 2015 Abstract Nest-founding queens of social insects typically Keywords Incipient colony Á Disease Á Parasite Á experience high mortality rates. Mortality is particularly Fusarium oxysporum Á Aspergillus flavus Á severe in leafcutter ants of the fungus-growing ant genus Megaselia scalaris Atta that face the challenge of cultivating a delicate fungus garden in addition to raising brood. We quantified foundress queen survivorship of Atta texana that were collected in Introduction northwest Texas and maintained in single-queen laboratory nests, and we tracked the rate of colony growth during the The nest-founding stage is a particularly critical stage in the first precarious months of the colony lifecycle. Ninety days life history of social insects (Oster and Wilson 1978). Nest- post-mating flight, only 16.3 % of 141 of the original founding queens typically experience low survivorship, queens had survived, and colony growth rates varied which creates a selective bottleneck where a very small markedly across the surviving colonies. Worker production proportion of surviving queens contribute to the next gen- was weakly correlated with fungus garden growth over the eration (Brian 1965; Wilson 1971; Cole 2009).
    [Show full text]
  • Disentangling Nutritional Pathways Linking Leafcutter Ants and Their Co-Evolved Fungal Symbionts Using Stable Isotopes
    Disentangling nutritional pathways linking leafcutter ants and their co-evolved fungal symbionts using stable isotopes Shik, Jonathan Z.; Rytter, Winnie; Arnan, Xavier; Michelsen, Anders Published in: Ecology DOI: 10.1002/ecy.2431 Publication date: 2018 Document version Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Citation for published version (APA): Shik, J. Z., Rytter, W., Arnan, X., & Michelsen, A. (2018). Disentangling nutritional pathways linking leafcutter ants and their co-evolved fungal symbionts using stable isotopes. Ecology, 99(9), 1999-2009. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2431 Download date: 26. sep.. 2021 Ecology, 99(9), 2018, pp. 1999–2009 © 2018 The Authors Ecology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Ecological Society of America. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Disentangling nutritional pathways linking leafcutter ants and their co-evolved fungal symbionts using stable isotopes 1,2,5 1 3 4 JONATHAN Z. SHIK, WINNIE RYTTER, XAVIER ARNAN, AND ANDERS MICHELSEN 1Centre for Social Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark 2Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092 Balboa, Ancon, Republic of Panama 3CREAF, Cerdanyola del Valles, ES-08193 Catalunya, Spain 4Terrestrial Ecology Section, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark Abstract. Leafcutter ants are the ultimate insect superorganisms, with up to millions of physiolog- ically specialized workers cooperating to cut and transport vegetation and then convert it into compost used to cultivate co-evolved fungi, domesticated over millions of years.
    [Show full text]
  • Chemical Warfare Between Fungus-Growing Ants and Their Pathogens Sibyl F
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by University of East Anglia digital repository Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect Chemical warfare between fungus-growing ants and their pathogens Sibyl F. D. Batey1, Claudio Greco1, Matthew I. Hutchings1,2 and Barrie Wilkinson1 e Abstract 50 60 million years ago [1]. The Attini can be divided Fungus-growing attine ants are under constant threat from according to their fungal cultivars, which include species fungal pathogens such as the specialized mycoparasite across the tribe Leucocoprineae. The lower attines tend Escovopsis, which uses combined physical and chemical to have less specialized fungal cultivars, which they feed attack strategies to prey on the fungal gardens of the ants. In with dead biomass, including vegetative debris and defence, some species assemble protective microbiomes on insect corpses [2]. The higher attines have specialized their exoskeletons that contain antimicrobial-producing Acti- obligate fungal cultivars which have developed hyphal nobacteria. Underlying this network of mutualistic and antag- swellings known as gongylidia that provide a rich source onistic interactions are an array of chemical signals. of nutrients for the colony [3]. The leafcutter ants are Escovopsis weberi produces the shearinine terpene-indole the most highly derived attines and comprise the genera alkaloids, which affect ant behaviour, diketopiperazines to Atta and Acromyrmex [2]. They mainly cultivate Leucoa- combat defensive bacteria, and other small molecules that garicus gongylophorus [4], a polyploid clone, which is inhibit the fungal cultivar. Pseudonocardia and Streptomyces transmitted vertically between nests [5]. The ants mutualist bacteria produce depsipeptide and polyene macro- actively cut fresh leaf material to feed to their cultivar, lide antifungals active against Escovopsis spp.
    [Show full text]