Analysis of the bacterial communities associated with two ant-plant symbioses.
Microbiologyopen
; 2(2): 276-83, 2013 Apr.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-23417898
Insect fungiculture is practiced by ants, termites, beetles, and gall midges and it has been suggested to be widespread among plant-ants. Some of the insects engaged in fungiculture, including attine ants and bark beetles, are known to use symbiotic antibiotic-producing actinobacteria to protect themselves and their fungal cultivars against infection. In this study, we analyze the bacterial communities on the cuticles of the plant-ant genera Allomerus and Tetraponera using deep sequencing of 16S rRNA. Allomerus ants cultivate fungus as a building material to strengthen traps for prey, while Tetraponera ants cultivate fungus as a food source. We report that Allomerus and Tetraponera microbiomes contain >75% Proteobacteria and remarkably the bacterial phyla that dominate their cuticular microbiomes are very similar despite their geographic separation (South America and Africa, respectively). Notably, antibiotic-producing actinomycete bacteria represent a tiny fraction of the cuticular microbiomes of both Allomerus and Tetraponera spp. and instead they are dominated by γ-proteobacteria Erwinia and Serratia spp. Both these phyla are known to contain antibiotic-producing species which might therefore play a protective role in these ant-plant systems.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Formigas
/
Plantas
/
Simbiose
/
Bactérias
Tipo de estudo:
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Animals
País/Região como assunto:
Africa
/
America do sul
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Microbiologyopen
Ano de publicação:
2013
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Reino Unido
País de publicação:
Reino Unido