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Veličković M, Wu R, Gao Y, Thairu MW, Veličković D, Munoz N, Clendinen CS, Bilbao A, Chu RK, Lalli PM, Zemaitis K, Nicora CD, Kyle JE, Orton D, Williams S, Zhu Y, Zhao R, Monroe ME, Moore RJ, Webb-Robertson BJM, Bramer LM, Currie CR, Piehowski PD, Burnum-Johnson KE. Mapping microhabitats of lignocellulose decomposition by a microbial consortium. Nat Chem Biol 2024; 20:1033-1043. [PMID: 38302607 PMCID: PMC11288888 DOI: 10.1038/s41589-023-01536-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2023] [Accepted: 12/20/2023] [Indexed: 02/03/2024]
Abstract
The leaf-cutter ant fungal garden ecosystem is a naturally evolved model system for efficient plant biomass degradation. Degradation processes mediated by the symbiotic fungus Leucoagaricus gongylophorus are difficult to characterize due to dynamic metabolisms and spatial complexity of the system. Herein, we performed microscale imaging across 12-µm-thick adjacent sections of Atta cephalotes fungal gardens and applied a metabolome-informed proteome imaging approach to map lignin degradation. This approach combines two spatial multiomics mass spectrometry modalities that enabled us to visualize colocalized metabolites and proteins across and through the fungal garden. Spatially profiled metabolites revealed an accumulation of lignin-related products, outlining morphologically unique lignin microhabitats. Metaproteomic analyses of these microhabitats revealed carbohydrate-degrading enzymes, indicating a prominent fungal role in lignocellulose decomposition. Integration of metabolome-informed proteome imaging data provides a comprehensive view of underlying biological pathways to inform our understanding of metabolic fungal pathways in plant matter degradation within the micrometer-scale environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marija Veličković
- The Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA
| | - Ruonan Wu
- Biological Sciences Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA
| | - Yuqian Gao
- Biological Sciences Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA
| | - Margaret W Thairu
- Wisconsin Institute for Discovery and Department of Plant Pathology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Dušan Veličković
- The Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA
| | - Nathalie Munoz
- The Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA
| | - Chaevien S Clendinen
- The Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA
| | - Aivett Bilbao
- The Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA
| | - Rosalie K Chu
- The Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA
| | - Priscila M Lalli
- Biological Sciences Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA
| | - Kevin Zemaitis
- The Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA
| | - Carrie D Nicora
- Biological Sciences Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA
| | - Jennifer E Kyle
- Biological Sciences Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA
| | - Daniel Orton
- Biological Sciences Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA
| | - Sarai Williams
- The Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA
| | - Ying Zhu
- Department of Microchemistry, Proteomics, Lipidomics, and Next Generation Sequencing, Genentech, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Rui Zhao
- The Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA
| | - Matthew E Monroe
- Biological Sciences Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA
| | - Ronald J Moore
- Biological Sciences Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA
| | | | - Lisa M Bramer
- Biological Sciences Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA
| | - Cameron R Currie
- Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
- Department of Biochemistry & Biomedical Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
| | - Paul D Piehowski
- The Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA
| | - Kristin E Burnum-Johnson
- The Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA.
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Barrajon-Santos V, Nepel M, Hausmann B, Voglmayr H, Woebken D, Mayer VE. Dynamics and drivers of fungal communities in a multipartite ant-plant association. BMC Biol 2024; 22:112. [PMID: 38745290 PMCID: PMC11093746 DOI: 10.1186/s12915-024-01897-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2023] [Accepted: 04/18/2024] [Indexed: 05/16/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Fungi and ants belong to the most important organisms in terrestrial ecosystems on Earth. In nutrient-poor niches of tropical rainforests, they have developed steady ecological relationships as a successful survival strategy. In tropical ant-plant mutualisms worldwide, where resident ants provide the host plants with defense and nutrients in exchange for shelter and food, fungi are regularly found in the ant nesting space, inhabiting ant-made dark-colored piles ("patches"). Unlike the extensively investigated fungus-growing insects, where the fungi serve as the primary food source, the purpose of this ant-fungi association is less clear. To decipher the roles of fungi in these structures within ant nests, it is crucial to first understand the dynamics and drivers that influence fungal patch communities during ant colony development. RESULTS In this study, we investigated how the ant colony age and the ant-plant species affect the fungal community in the patches. As model we selected one of the most common mutualisms in the Tropics of America, the Azteca-Cecropia complex. By amplicon sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) region, we analyzed the patch fungal communities of 93 Azteca spp. colonies inhabiting Cecropia spp. trees. Our study demonstrates that the fungal diversity in patches increases as the ant colony grows and that a change in the prevalent fungal taxa occurs between initial and established patches. In addition, the ant species significantly influences the composition of the fungal community in established ant colonies, rather than the host plant species. CONCLUSIONS The fungal patch communities become more complex as the ant colony develops, due to an acquisition of fungi from the environment and a substrate diversification. Our results suggest a successional progression of the fungal communities in the patches during ant colony growth and place the ant colony as the main driver shaping such communities. The findings of this study demonstrate the unexpectedly complex nature of ant-plant mutualisms in tropical regions at a micro scale.
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Affiliation(s)
- Veronica Barrajon-Santos
- Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
- Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
- Doctoral School in Microbiology and Environmental Science, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
| | - Maximilian Nepel
- Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Present Address: Plant Health and Environment Laboratory, Ministry for Primary Industries, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Bela Hausmann
- Joint Microbiome Facility of the Medical University of Vienna and the University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Department of Laboratory Medicine Division of Clinical Microbiology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Hermann Voglmayr
- Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Dagmar Woebken
- Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Veronika E Mayer
- Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
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Guo W, Song Y, Chen H, Li X. Dietary potential of the symbiotic fungus Penicillium herquei for the larvae of a nonsocial fungus-cultivating weevil Euops chinensis. Appl Environ Microbiol 2024; 90:e0153723. [PMID: 38445862 PMCID: PMC11022562 DOI: 10.1128/aem.01537-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2023] [Accepted: 02/06/2024] [Indexed: 03/07/2024] Open
Abstract
Many insect taxa cultivate fungi for food. Compared to well-known fungus cultivation in social insects, our knowledge on fungus cultivation in nonsocial insects is still limited. Here, we studied the nutritional potentials of the fungal cultivar, Penicillium herquei, for the larvae of its nonsocial insect farmer, Euops chinensis, a specialist on Japanese knotweed Reynoutria japonica. Overall, fungal hyphae and leaf rolls contained significantly higher carbon (C), stable isotopes of C (δ13C), and nitrogen (δ15N) but significantly lower C/N ratios compared to unrolled leaves, whereas insect bodies contained significantly higher N contents but lower C and C/N ratios compared to other types of samples. The MixSIAR model indicated that fungal hyphae contributed a larger proportion (0.626-0.797) to the diet of E. chinensis larvae than leaf materials. The levels of ergosterol, six essential amino acids, seven nonessential amino acids, and three B vitamins tested in fungal hyphae and/or leaf rolls were significantly higher than in unrolled leaves and/or larvae. The P. herquei genome contains the complete set of genes required for the biosynthesis of ergosterol, the essential amino acids valine and threonine, nine nonessential amino acids, and vitamins B2 and B3, whereas some genes associated with five essential and one nonessential amino acid were lost in the P. herquei genome. These suggest that P. herquei is capable of providing the E. chinensis larvae food with ergosterol, amino acids, and B vitamins. P. herquei appears to be able to synthesize or concentrate these nutrients considering that they were specifically concentrated in fungal hyphae. IMPORTANCE The cultivation of fungi for food has occurred across divergent insect lineages such as social ants, termites, and ambrosia beetles, as well as some seldom-reported solitary insects. Although the fungal cultivars of these insects have been studied for decades, the dietary potential of fungal cultivars for their hosts (especially for those nonsocial insects) is largely unknown. Our research on the mutualistic system Euops chinensis-Penicillium herquei represents an example of the diverse nutritional potentials of the fungal cultivar P. herquei in the diet of the larvae of its solitary host, E. chinensis. These results demonstrate that P. herquei has the potential to synthesize or concentrate ergosterol, amino acids, and B vitamins and benefits the larvae of E. chinensis. Our findings would shed light on poorly understood fungal cultivation mutualisms in nonsocial insects and underscore the nutritional importance of fungal cultivars in fungal cultivation mutualisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenfeng Guo
- Guangxi Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Conservation, College of Forestry, Guangxi University, Nanning, Guangxi, China
- Guangxi Crop Genetic Improvement and Biotechnology Lab, Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanning, Guangxi, China
| | - Yu Song
- Guangxi Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Conservation, College of Forestry, Guangxi University, Nanning, Guangxi, China
| | - Hu Chen
- Wuhan Benagen Technology Co., Ltd, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Xiaoqiong Li
- Guangxi Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Conservation, College of Forestry, Guangxi University, Nanning, Guangxi, China
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Corrales J, Ramos-Alonso L, González-Sabín J, Ríos-Lombardía N, Trevijano-Contador N, Engen Berg H, Sved Skottvoll F, Moris F, Zaragoza O, Chymkowitch P, Garcia I, Enserink JM. Characterization of a selective, iron-chelating antifungal compound that disrupts fungal metabolism and synergizes with fluconazole. Microbiol Spectr 2024; 12:e0259423. [PMID: 38230926 PMCID: PMC10845951 DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.02594-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2023] [Accepted: 12/06/2023] [Indexed: 01/18/2024] Open
Abstract
Fungal infections are a growing global health concern due to the limited number of available antifungal therapies as well as the emergence of fungi that are resistant to first-line antimicrobials, particularly azoles and echinocandins. Development of novel, selective antifungal therapies is challenging due to similarities between fungal and mammalian cells. An attractive source of potential antifungal treatments is provided by ecological niches co-inhabited by bacteria, fungi, and multicellular organisms, where complex relationships between multiple organisms have resulted in evolution of a wide variety of selective antimicrobials. Here, we characterized several analogs of one such natural compound, collismycin A. We show that NR-6226C has antifungal activity against several pathogenic Candida species, including C. albicans and C. glabrata, whereas it only has little toxicity against mammalian cells. Mechanistically, NR-6226C selectively chelates iron, which is a limiting factor for pathogenic fungi during infection. As a result, NR-6226C treatment causes severe mitochondrial dysfunction, leading to formation of reactive oxygen species, metabolic reprogramming, and a severe reduction in ATP levels. Using an in vivo model for fungal infections, we show that NR-6226C significantly increases survival of Candida-infected Galleria mellonella larvae. Finally, our data indicate that NR-6226C synergizes strongly with fluconazole in inhibition of C. albicans. Taken together, NR-6226C is a promising antifungal compound that acts by chelating iron and disrupting mitochondrial functions.IMPORTANCEDrug-resistant fungal infections are an emerging global threat, and pan-resistance to current antifungal therapies is an increasing problem. Clearly, there is a need for new antifungal drugs. In this study, we characterized a novel antifungal agent, the collismycin analog NR-6226C. NR-6226C has a favorable toxicity profile for human cells, which is essential for further clinical development. We unraveled the mechanism of action of NR-6226C and found that it disrupts iron homeostasis and thereby depletes fungal cells of energy. Importantly, NR-6226C strongly potentiates the antifungal activity of fluconazole, thereby providing inroads for combination therapy that may reduce or prevent azole resistance. Thus, NR-6226C is a promising compound for further development into antifungal treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeanne Corrales
- Department of Molecular Cell Biology, Institute for Cancer Research, The Norwegian Radium Hospital, Montebello, Norway
- Centre for Cancer Cell Reprogramming, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Section for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Lucia Ramos-Alonso
- Section for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Javier González-Sabín
- EntreChem SL, Vivero Ciencias de la Salud, Calle Colegio Santo Domingo Guzmán, Oviedo, Spain
| | - Nicolás Ríos-Lombardía
- EntreChem SL, Vivero Ciencias de la Salud, Calle Colegio Santo Domingo Guzmán, Oviedo, Spain
| | - Nuria Trevijano-Contador
- Mycology Reference Laboratory, National Centre for Microbiology, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Carretera Majadahonda-Pozuelo, Madrid, Spain
| | | | | | - Francisco Moris
- EntreChem SL, Vivero Ciencias de la Salud, Calle Colegio Santo Domingo Guzmán, Oviedo, Spain
| | - Oscar Zaragoza
- EntreChem SL, Vivero Ciencias de la Salud, Calle Colegio Santo Domingo Guzmán, Oviedo, Spain
- Center for Biomedical Research in Network in Infectious Diseases, CB21/13/00105, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
| | - Pierre Chymkowitch
- Section for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Ignacio Garcia
- Department of Bacteriology, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
| | - Jorrit M. Enserink
- Department of Molecular Cell Biology, Institute for Cancer Research, The Norwegian Radium Hospital, Montebello, Norway
- Centre for Cancer Cell Reprogramming, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Section for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
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5
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Martiarena MJS, Deveau A, Montoya QV, Flórez LV, Rodrigues A. The Hyphosphere of Leaf-Cutting Ant Cultivars Is Enriched with Helper Bacteria. MICROBIAL ECOLOGY 2023; 86:1773-1788. [PMID: 36754866 DOI: 10.1007/s00248-023-02187-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2022] [Accepted: 01/29/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Bacteria can live in a variety of interkingdom communities playing key ecological roles. The microbiome of leaf-cutting attine ant colonies are a remarkable example of such communities, as they support ants' metabolic processes and the maintenance of ant-fungus gardens. Studies on this topic have explored the bacterial community of the whole fungus garden, without discerning bacterial groups associated with the nutrient storage structures (gongylidia) of ant fungal cultivars. Here we studied bacteria isolated from the surface of gongylidia in the cultivars of Atta sexdens and Acromyrmex coronatus, to assess whether the bacterial community influences the biology of the fungus. A total of 10 bacterial strains were isolated from gongylidia (Bacillus sp., Lysinibacillus sp., Niallia sp., Staphylococcus sp., Paenibacillus sp., Pantoea sp., Staphylococcus sp., and one Actinobacteria). Some bacterial isolates increased gongylidia production and fungal biomass while others had inhibitory effects. Eight bacterial strains were confirmed to form biofilm-like structures on the fungal cultivar hyphae. They also showed auxiliary metabolic functions useful for the development of the fungal garden such as phosphate solubilization, siderophore production, cellulose and chitin degradation, and antifungal activity against antagonists of the fungal cultivar. Bacteria-bacteria interaction assays revealed heterogeneous behaviors including synergism and competition, which might contribute to regulate the community structure inside the garden. Our results suggest that bacteria and the ant fungal cultivar interact directly, across a continuum of positive and negative interactions within the community. These complex relationships could ultimately contribute to the stability of the ant-fungus mutualism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Jesus Sutta Martiarena
- Department of General and Applied Biology, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Avenida 24-A, 1515, Bela Vista, Rio Claro, SP, 13.506-900, Brazil
| | - Aurelie Deveau
- UMR IAM, Université de Lorraine, INRAE, 54280, Champenoux, France
| | - Quimi Vidaurre Montoya
- Department of General and Applied Biology, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Avenida 24-A, 1515, Bela Vista, Rio Claro, SP, 13.506-900, Brazil
| | - Laura V Flórez
- Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Andre Rodrigues
- Department of General and Applied Biology, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Avenida 24-A, 1515, Bela Vista, Rio Claro, SP, 13.506-900, Brazil.
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Leal-Dutra CA, Yuen LM, Guedes BAM, Contreras-Serrano M, Marques PE, Shik JZ. Evidence that the domesticated fungus Leucoagaricus gongylophorus recycles its cytoplasmic contents as nutritional rewards to feed its leafcutter ant farmers. IMA Fungus 2023; 14:19. [PMID: 37715276 PMCID: PMC10503033 DOI: 10.1186/s43008-023-00126-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2023] [Accepted: 08/22/2023] [Indexed: 09/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Leafcutter ants farm a fungal cultivar (Leucoagaricus gongylophorus) that converts inedible vegetation into food that sustains colonies with up to millions of workers. Analogous to edible fruits of crops domesticated by humans, L. gongylophorus has evolved specialized nutritional rewards-swollen hyphal cells called gongylidia that package metabolites and are consumed by ant farmers. Yet, little is known about how gongylidia form, and thus how fungal physiology and ant provisioning collectively govern farming performance. We explored the process of gongylidium formation using advanced microscopy to image the cultivar at scales of nanometers, and both in vitro experiments and in silico analyses to examine the mechanisms of gongylidia formation when isolated from ant farmers. We first used transmission electron, fluorescence, and confocal microscopy imaging to see inside hyphal cells. This imaging showed that the cultivar uses a process called autophagy to recycle its own cellular material (e.g. cytosol, mitochondria) and then shuttles the resulting metabolites into a vacuole whose continual expansion displaces other organelles and causes the gongylidium cell's bulging bulb-like appearance. We next used scanning electron microscopy and light microscopy to link this intracellular rearrangement to the external branching patterns of gongylidium cells as they clump together into edible bundles called staphyla. We next confirmed that autophagy plays a critical role in gongylidium formation both: (1) in vitro as gongylidium suppression occurred when isolated fungal cultures were grown on media with autophagy inhibitors, and (2) in silico as differential transcript expression (RNA-seq) analyses showed upregulation of multiple autophagy gene isoforms in gongylidia relative to undifferentiated hyphae. While autophagy is a ubiquitous and often highly derived process across the tree of life, our study reveals a new role for autophagy as a mechanism of functional integration between ant farmers and their fungal crop, and potentially as a signifier of higher-level homeostasis between uniquely life-time committed ectosymbionts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caio Ambrosio Leal-Dutra
- Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100, Copenhagen, Denmark.
| | - Lok Man Yuen
- Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Department of Biology, ETH Zürich, Universitätsstrasse 16, Zürich, 8092, Switzerland
| | - Bruno Augusto Maciel Guedes
- Departamento de Ciências Básicas da Vida, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Campus Governador Valadares, Governador Valadares, MG, 35020-360, Brazil
| | - Marta Contreras-Serrano
- Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Pedro Elias Marques
- Laboratory of Molecular Immunology, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Rega Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Jonathan Zvi Shik
- Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Republic of Panama
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7
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Santos Correa KC, Moreira AC, Abd El-Raheem Ibrahim AG, Ramos de Jesus HC, Micocci KC, Crizóstomo Kock FV, Bueno OC, Venâncio T, Henrique-Silva F, Souza DHF. Identification and characterization of a recombinant cysteine peptidase (AsCathL) from leaf-cutting ant Atta sexdens Linnaeus, 1758 (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Protein Expr Purif 2023; 201:106174. [DOI: 10.1016/j.pep.2022.106174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2022] [Revised: 09/10/2022] [Accepted: 09/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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8
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Cuervo L, Méndez C, Salas JA, Olano C, Malmierca MG. Volatile Compounds in Actinomycete Communities: A New Tool for Biosynthetic Gene Cluster Activation, Cooperative Growth Promotion, and Drug Discovery. Cells 2022; 11:3510. [PMID: 36359906 PMCID: PMC9655753 DOI: 10.3390/cells11213510] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2022] [Revised: 10/30/2022] [Accepted: 11/01/2022] [Indexed: 07/30/2023] Open
Abstract
The increasing appearance of multiresistant pathogens, as well as emerging diseases, has highlighted the need for new strategies to discover natural compounds that can be used as therapeutic alternatives, especially in the genus Streptomyces, which is one of the largest producers of bioactive metabolites. In recent years, the study of volatile compounds (VOCs) has raised interest because of the variety of their biological properties in addition to their involvement in cell communication. In this work, we analyze the implications of VOCs as mediating molecules capable of inducing the activation of biosynthetic pathways of bioactive compounds in surrounding Actinomycetes. For this purpose, several strains of Streptomyces were co-cultured in chamber devices that allowed VOC exchange while avoiding physical contact. In several of those strains, secondary metabolism was activated by VOCs emitted by companion strains, resulting in increased antibiotic production and synthesis of new VOCs. This study shows a novel strategy to exploit the metabolic potential of Actinomycetes as well as emphasizes the importance of studying the interactions between different microorganisms sharing the same ecological niche.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lorena Cuervo
- Functional Biology Department, University of Oviedo, 33006 Oviedo, Spain
- University Institute of Oncology of Asturias (I.U.O.P.A), University of Oviedo, 33006 Oviedo, Spain
- Health Research Institute of Asturias (ISPA), 33011 Oviedo, Spain
| | - Carmen Méndez
- Functional Biology Department, University of Oviedo, 33006 Oviedo, Spain
- University Institute of Oncology of Asturias (I.U.O.P.A), University of Oviedo, 33006 Oviedo, Spain
- Health Research Institute of Asturias (ISPA), 33011 Oviedo, Spain
| | - José A. Salas
- Functional Biology Department, University of Oviedo, 33006 Oviedo, Spain
- University Institute of Oncology of Asturias (I.U.O.P.A), University of Oviedo, 33006 Oviedo, Spain
- Health Research Institute of Asturias (ISPA), 33011 Oviedo, Spain
| | - Carlos Olano
- Functional Biology Department, University of Oviedo, 33006 Oviedo, Spain
- University Institute of Oncology of Asturias (I.U.O.P.A), University of Oviedo, 33006 Oviedo, Spain
- Health Research Institute of Asturias (ISPA), 33011 Oviedo, Spain
| | - Mónica G. Malmierca
- Functional Biology Department, University of Oviedo, 33006 Oviedo, Spain
- University Institute of Oncology of Asturias (I.U.O.P.A), University of Oviedo, 33006 Oviedo, Spain
- Health Research Institute of Asturias (ISPA), 33011 Oviedo, Spain
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Four New Species of Harringtonia: Unravelling the Laurel Wilt Fungal Genus. J Fungi (Basel) 2022; 8:jof8060613. [PMID: 35736096 PMCID: PMC9224673 DOI: 10.3390/jof8060613] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2022] [Revised: 05/20/2022] [Accepted: 05/30/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Symbiosis between beetles and fungi arose multiple times during the evolution of both organisms. Some of the most biologically diverse and economically important are mutualisms in which the beetles cultivate and feed on fungi. Among these are bark beetles and Harringtonia, a fungal genus that produces Raffaelea-like asexual morph and hosts the causal agent of laurel wilt, H. lauricola (formerly Raffaelea lauricola). In this study, we propose four new species of Harringtonia associated with beetles from Belize and Florida (USA). We hope to contribute towards a more robust and inclusive phylogenetic framework for future studies on these beetle-fungi relationships and their potential impact in crops and forests worldwide.
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10
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Barcoto MO, Rodrigues A. Lessons From Insect Fungiculture: From Microbial Ecology to Plastics Degradation. Front Microbiol 2022; 13:812143. [PMID: 35685924 PMCID: PMC9171207 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.812143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2021] [Accepted: 03/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Anthropogenic activities have extensively transformed the biosphere by extracting and disposing of resources, crossing boundaries of planetary threat while causing a global crisis of waste overload. Despite fundamental differences regarding structure and recalcitrance, lignocellulose and plastic polymers share physical-chemical properties to some extent, that include carbon skeletons with similar chemical bonds, hydrophobic properties, amorphous and crystalline regions. Microbial strategies for metabolizing recalcitrant polymers have been selected and optimized through evolution, thus understanding natural processes for lignocellulose modification could aid the challenge of dealing with the recalcitrant human-made polymers spread worldwide. We propose to look for inspiration in the charismatic fungal-growing insects to understand multipartite degradation of plant polymers. Independently evolved in diverse insect lineages, fungiculture embraces passive or active fungal cultivation for food, protection, and structural purposes. We consider there is much to learn from these symbioses, in special from the community-level degradation of recalcitrant biomass and defensive metabolites. Microbial plant-degrading systems at the core of insect fungicultures could be promising candidates for degrading synthetic plastics. Here, we first compare the degradation of lignocellulose and plastic polymers, with emphasis in the overlapping microbial players and enzymatic activities between these processes. Second, we review the literature on diverse insect fungiculture systems, focusing on features that, while supporting insects' ecology and evolution, could also be applied in biotechnological processes. Third, taking lessons from these microbial communities, we suggest multidisciplinary strategies to identify microbial degraders, degrading enzymes and pathways, as well as microbial interactions and interdependencies. Spanning from multiomics to spectroscopy, microscopy, stable isotopes probing, enrichment microcosmos, and synthetic communities, these strategies would allow for a systemic understanding of the fungiculture ecology, driving to application possibilities. Detailing how the metabolic landscape is entangled to achieve ecological success could inspire sustainable efforts for mitigating the current environmental crisis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariana O. Barcoto
- Center for the Study of Social Insects, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Rio Claro, Brazil
- Department of General and Applied Biology, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Rio Claro, Brazil
| | - Andre Rodrigues
- Center for the Study of Social Insects, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Rio Claro, Brazil
- Department of General and Applied Biology, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Rio Claro, Brazil
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11
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Conlon BH, O'Tuama D, Michelsen A, Crumière AJJ, Shik JZ. A fungal symbiont converts provisioned cellulose into edible yield for its leafcutter ant farmers. Biol Lett 2022; 18:20220022. [PMID: 35440234 PMCID: PMC9019514 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2022.0022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
While ants are dominant consumers in terrestrial habitats, only the leafcutters practice herbivory. Leafcutters do this by provisioning a fungal cultivar (Leucoagaricus gongylophorus) with freshly cut plant fragments and harnessing its metabolic machinery to convert plant mulch into edible fungal tissue (hyphae and swollen hyphal cells called gongylidia). The cultivar is known to degrade cellulose, but whether it assimilates this ubiquitous but recalcitrant molecule into its nutritional reward structures is unknown. We use in vitro experiments with isotopically labelled cellulose to show that fungal cultures from an Atta colombica leafcutter colony convert cellulose-derived carbon into gongylidia, even when potential bacterial symbionts are excluded. A laboratory feeding experiment showed that cellulose assimilation also occurs in vivo in A. colombica colonies. Analyses of publicly available transcriptomic data further identified a complete, constitutively expressed, cellulose-degradation pathway in the fungal cultivar. Confirming leafcutters use cellulose as a food source sheds light on the eco-evolutionary success of these important herbivores.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin H Conlon
- Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen East, Denmark
| | - David O'Tuama
- Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen East, Denmark
| | - Anders Michelsen
- Section for Terrestrial Ecology, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Antonin J J Crumière
- Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen East, Denmark
| | - Jonathan Z Shik
- Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen East, Denmark.,Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado Postal 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Panama
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12
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The Symbiotic Fungus Leucoagaricus gongylophorus (Möller) Singer (Agaricales, Agaricaceae) as a Target Organism to Control Leaf-Cutting Ants. INSECTS 2022; 13:insects13040359. [PMID: 35447801 PMCID: PMC9029082 DOI: 10.3390/insects13040359] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2021] [Revised: 03/19/2022] [Accepted: 04/01/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Simple Summary The most used approach to control leaf-cutting ants (which cause damage in agricultural areas) is the application of synthetic chemical compounds that directly affect these insects. But another approach is the use of natural substances that attack the symbiotic fungus responsible for many aspects of the survival of the nest. In this study, we discuss the natural substances already reported in the literature to have fungicidal activity and how they could be applicable as products for the control of leaf-cutting ants. Abstract Atta and Acromyrmex are the main genera of leaf-cutting ants present in North and South America, causing extensive damage to agroforestry. Control of the ants requires high handling costs with few effective methods available to decrease the losses. The symbiosis between the leaf-cutting ants and the fungus Leucoagaricus gongylophorus is essential for ant nest survival. Therefore, L. gongylophorus may be a key target in controlling leaf-cutting ants, since its reduction may cause an imbalance in the symbiosis necessary to maintain the nest. Among the options for natural fungal control, plant species are considered important sources of compounds belonging to several classes of natural products that show potential as antifungal agents. This review also presents studies that establish that the antagonist fungi from the Escovopsis and Trichoderma genera effectively reduce the development of L. gongylophorus. The development of nanostructured delivery systems, which have shown advantages over conventional formulations, is suggested for ant control; no commercial nanotechnology-based product has yet been developed, and this appears to be a new approach for future studies.
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13
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Ahmad F, Yang GY, Liang SY, Zhou QH, Gaal HA, Mo JC. Multipartite symbioses in fungus-growing termites (Blattodea: Termitidae, Macrotermitinae) for the degradation of lignocellulose. INSECT SCIENCE 2021; 28:1512-1529. [PMID: 33236502 DOI: 10.1111/1744-7917.12890] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2020] [Revised: 10/06/2020] [Accepted: 10/19/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Fungus-growing termites are among the most successful herbivorous animals and improve crop productivity and soil fertility. A range of symbiotic organisms can be found inside their nests. However, interactions of termites with these symbionts are poorly understood. This review provides detailed information on the role of multipartite symbioses (between termitophiles, termites, fungi, and bacteria) in fungus-growing termites for lignocellulose degradation. The specific functions of each component in the symbiotic system are also discussed. Based on previous studies, we argue that the enzymatic contribution from the host, fungus, and bacteria greatly facilitates the decomposition of complex polysaccharide plant materials. The host-termitophile interaction protects the termite nest from natural enemies and maintains the stability of the microenvironment inside the colony.
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Affiliation(s)
- Farhan Ahmad
- Ministry of Agriculture Key Lab of Molecular Biology of Crop Pathogens and Insect Pests, Institute of Insect Sciences, College of Agricultural and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
- Entomology Section, Central Cotton Research Institute, Sakrand, Shaheed Benazirabad, Sindh, Pakistan
| | - Gui-Ying Yang
- Ministry of Agriculture Key Lab of Molecular Biology of Crop Pathogens and Insect Pests, Institute of Insect Sciences, College of Agricultural and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Shi-You Liang
- Ministry of Agriculture Key Lab of Molecular Biology of Crop Pathogens and Insect Pests, Institute of Insect Sciences, College of Agricultural and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Qi-Huan Zhou
- Ministry of Agriculture Key Lab of Molecular Biology of Crop Pathogens and Insect Pests, Institute of Insect Sciences, College of Agricultural and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Hassan Ahmed Gaal
- Ministry of Agriculture Key Lab of Molecular Biology of Crop Pathogens and Insect Pests, Institute of Insect Sciences, College of Agricultural and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
- Department of Entomology, Faculty of Veterinary and Animal Husbandry, Somali National University, Mogadishu, Somalia
| | - Jian-Chu Mo
- Ministry of Agriculture Key Lab of Molecular Biology of Crop Pathogens and Insect Pests, Institute of Insect Sciences, College of Agricultural and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
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14
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Worsley SF, Innocent TM, Holmes NA, Al-Bassam MM, Schiøtt M, Wilkinson B, Murrell JC, Boomsma JJ, Yu DW, Hutchings MI. Competition-based screening helps to secure the evolutionary stability of a defensive microbiome. BMC Biol 2021; 19:205. [PMID: 34526023 PMCID: PMC8444595 DOI: 10.1186/s12915-021-01142-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2021] [Accepted: 09/03/2021] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The cuticular microbiomes of Acromyrmex leaf-cutting ants pose a conundrum in microbiome biology because they are freely colonisable, and yet the prevalence of the vertically transmitted bacteria Pseudonocardia, which contributes to the control of Escovopsis fungus garden disease, is never compromised by the secondary acquisition of other bacterial strains. Game theory suggests that competition-based screening can allow the selective recruitment of antibiotic-producing bacteria from the environment, by providing abundant resources to foment interference competition between bacterial species and by using Pseudonocardia to bias the outcome of competition in favour of antibiotic producers. RESULTS Here, we use RNA-stable isotope probing (RNA-SIP) to confirm that Acromyrmex ants can maintain a range of microbial symbionts on their cuticle by supplying public resources. We then used RNA sequencing, bioassays, and competition experiments to show that vertically transmitted Pseudonocardia strains produce antibacterials that differentially reduce the growth rates of other microbes, ultimately biassing the bacterial competition to allow the selective establishment of secondary antibiotic-producing strains while excluding non-antibiotic-producing strains that would parasitise the symbiosis. CONCLUSIONS Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that competition-based screening is a plausible mechanism for maintaining the integrity of the co-adapted mutualism between the leaf-cutting ant farming symbiosis and its defensive microbiome. Our results have broader implications for explaining the stability of other complex symbioses involving horizontal acquisition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah F Worsley
- School of Biological Sciences, Norwich Research Park, University of East Anglia, Norwich, Norfolk, NR4 7TJ, UK
| | - Tabitha M Innocent
- Centre for Social Evolution, Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Neil A Holmes
- School of Biological Sciences, Norwich Research Park, University of East Anglia, Norwich, Norfolk, NR4 7TJ, UK
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, John Innes Centre, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, Norfolk, NR4 7UH, UK
| | - Mahmoud M Al-Bassam
- School of Biological Sciences, Norwich Research Park, University of East Anglia, Norwich, Norfolk, NR4 7TJ, UK
| | - Morten Schiøtt
- Centre for Social Evolution, Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Barrie Wilkinson
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, John Innes Centre, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, Norfolk, NR4 7UH, UK
| | - J Colin Murrell
- School of Environmental Sciences, Norwich Research Park, University of East Anglia, Norwich, Norfolk, NR4 7TJ, UK
| | - Jacobus J Boomsma
- Centre for Social Evolution, Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
| | - Douglas W Yu
- School of Biological Sciences, Norwich Research Park, University of East Anglia, Norwich, Norfolk, NR4 7TJ, UK.
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650223, Yunnan, China.
- Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650223, Yunnan, China.
| | - Matthew I Hutchings
- School of Biological Sciences, Norwich Research Park, University of East Anglia, Norwich, Norfolk, NR4 7TJ, UK.
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, John Innes Centre, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, Norfolk, NR4 7UH, UK.
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15
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Caraballo-Rodríguez AM, Puckett SP, Kyle KE, Petras D, da Silva R, Nothias LF, Ernst M, van der Hooft JJJ, Tripathi A, Wang M, Balunas MJ, Klassen JL, Dorrestein PC. Chemical Gradients of Plant Substrates in an Atta texana Fungus Garden. mSystems 2021; 6:e0060121. [PMID: 34342533 PMCID: PMC8409729 DOI: 10.1128/msystems.00601-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2021] [Accepted: 07/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Many ant species grow fungus gardens that predigest food as an essential step of the ants' nutrient uptake. These symbiotic fungus gardens have long been studied and feature a gradient of increasing substrate degradation from top to bottom. To further facilitate the study of fungus gardens and enable the understanding of the predigestion process in more detail than currently known, we applied recent mass spectrometry-based approaches and generated a three-dimensional (3D) molecular map of an Atta texana fungus garden to reveal chemical modifications as plant substrates pass through it. The metabolomics approach presented in this study can be applied to study similar processes in natural environments to compare with lab-maintained ecosystems. IMPORTANCE The study of complex ecosystems requires an understanding of the chemical processes involving molecules from several sources. Some of the molecules present in fungus-growing ants' symbiotic system originate from plants. To facilitate the study of fungus gardens from a chemical perspective, we provide a molecular map of an Atta texana fungus garden to reveal chemical modifications as plant substrates pass through it. The metabolomics approach presented in this study can be applied to study similar processes in natural environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrés Mauricio Caraballo-Rodríguez
- Collaborative Mass Spectrometry Innovation Center, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Sara P. Puckett
- Division of Medicinal Chemistry, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA
| | - Kathleen E. Kyle
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA
| | - Daniel Petras
- Collaborative Mass Spectrometry Innovation Center, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
- CMFI Cluster of Excellence, Interfaculty Institute of Microbiology and Medicine, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Ricardo da Silva
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil
| | - Louis-Félix Nothias
- Collaborative Mass Spectrometry Innovation Center, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Madeleine Ernst
- Section for Clinical Mass Spectrometry, Danish Center for Neonatal Screening, Department of Congenital Disorders, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | | | - Anupriya Tripathi
- Collaborative Mass Spectrometry Innovation Center, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Mingxun Wang
- Collaborative Mass Spectrometry Innovation Center, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Marcy J. Balunas
- Division of Medicinal Chemistry, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA
| | - Jonathan L. Klassen
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA
| | - Pieter C. Dorrestein
- Collaborative Mass Spectrometry Innovation Center, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
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16
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Conlon BH, Gostinčar C, Fricke J, Kreuzenbeck NB, Daniel JM, Schlosser MS, Peereboom N, Aanen DK, de Beer ZW, Beemelmanns C, Gunde-Cimerman N, Poulsen M. Genome reduction and relaxed selection is associated with the transition to symbiosis in the basidiomycete genus Podaxis. iScience 2021; 24:102680. [PMID: 34189441 PMCID: PMC8220239 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.102680] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2021] [Revised: 05/07/2021] [Accepted: 05/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Insights into the genomic consequences of symbiosis for basidiomycete fungi associated with social insects remain sparse. Capitalizing on viability of spores from centuries-old herbarium specimens of free-living, facultative, and specialist termite-associated Podaxis fungi, we obtained genomes of 10 specimens, including two type species described by Linnaeus >240 years ago. We document that the transition to termite association was accompanied by significant reductions in genome size and gene content, accelerated evolution in protein-coding genes, and reduced functional capacities for oxidative stress responses and lignin degradation. Functional testing confirmed that termite specialists perform worse under oxidative stress, while all lineages retained some capacity to cleave lignin. Mitochondrial genomes of termite associates were significantly larger; possibly driven by smaller population sizes or reduced competition, supported by apparent loss of certain biosynthetic gene clusters. Our findings point to relaxed selection that mirrors genome traits observed among obligate endosymbiotic bacteria of many insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin H. Conlon
- Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
| | - Cene Gostinčar
- Department of Biology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Janis Fricke
- Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology, Hans-Knoll-Institute, Chemical Biology, 07745 Jena, Germany
| | - Nina B. Kreuzenbeck
- Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology, Hans-Knoll-Institute, Chemical Biology, 07745 Jena, Germany
| | - Jan-Martin Daniel
- Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology, Hans-Knoll-Institute, Chemical Biology, 07745 Jena, Germany
| | - Malte S.L. Schlosser
- Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
| | - Nils Peereboom
- Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
| | - Duur K. Aanen
- Department of Plant Sciences, Laboratory of Genetics, Wageningen University, 6708 PB Wageningen, the Netherlands
| | - Z. Wilhelm de Beer
- Department of Biochemistry, Genetics, and Microbiology, Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
| | - Christine Beemelmanns
- Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology, Hans-Knoll-Institute, Chemical Biology, 07745 Jena, Germany
| | - Nina Gunde-Cimerman
- Department of Biology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Michael Poulsen
- Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
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17
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Jiménez-Gómez I, Barcoto MO, Montoya QV, Goes AC, Monteiro LSVE, Bueno OC, Rodrigues A. Host Susceptibility Modulates Escovopsis Pathogenic Potential in the Fungiculture of Higher Attine Ants. Front Microbiol 2021; 12:673444. [PMID: 34194409 PMCID: PMC8238408 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.673444] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2021] [Accepted: 05/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Health and disease emerge from intricate interactions between genotypes, phenotypes, and environmental features. The outcomes of such interactions are context-dependent, existing as a dynamic continuum ranging from benefits to damage. In host-microbial interactions, both the host and environmental conditions modulate the pathogenic potential of a microorganism. Microbial interactions are the core of the agricultural systems of ants in the subtribe Attina, which cultivate basidiomycete fungi for food. The fungiculture environment harbors a diverse microbial community, including fungi in the genus Escovopsis that has been studied as damage-causing agent. Here, we consider the ant colony as a host and investigate to what extent its health impacts the dynamics and outcomes of host-Escovopsis interactions. We found that different ant fungal cultivars vary in susceptibility to the same Escovopsis strains in plate-assays interactions. In subcolony-Escovopsis interactions, while healthy subcolonies gradually recover from infection with different concentrations of Escovopsis conidia, insecticide-treated subcolonies evidenced traits of infection and died within 7 days. The opportunistic nature of Escovopsis infections indicates that diseases in attine fungiculture are a consequence of host susceptibility, rather than the effect of a single microbial agent. By addressing the host susceptibility as a major modulator of Escovopsis pathogenesis, our findings expand the understanding of disease dynamics within attine colonies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irina Jiménez-Gómez
- Department of General and Applied Biology, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Rio Claro, Brazil.,Centro de Investigación en Dinámica Celular, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Cuernavaca, Mexico
| | - Mariana O Barcoto
- Department of General and Applied Biology, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Rio Claro, Brazil
| | - Quimi V Montoya
- Department of General and Applied Biology, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Rio Claro, Brazil
| | - Aryel C Goes
- Department of General and Applied Biology, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Rio Claro, Brazil
| | - Lana S V E Monteiro
- Department of General and Applied Biology, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Rio Claro, Brazil
| | - Odair C Bueno
- Department of General and Applied Biology, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Rio Claro, Brazil
| | - Andre Rodrigues
- Department of General and Applied Biology, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Rio Claro, Brazil
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18
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From Plants to Ants: Fungal Modification of Leaf Lipids for Nutrition and Communication in the Leaf-Cutter Ant Fungal Garden Ecosystem. mSystems 2021; 6:6/2/e01307-20. [PMID: 33758033 PMCID: PMC8547007 DOI: 10.1128/msystems.01307-20] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Lipids are essential to all living organisms, as an energy source, as an important cellular structural component, and as a communication tool. In this study, we used global lipidomic methods to evaluate the lipids in leaf-cutter ant fungal gardens. Leaf-cutter ants and their coevolved fungal cultivar, Leucoagaricus gongylophorus, are a model mutualistic system. The fungus enzymatically digests fresh plant material that the ants cut and deliver, converting energy and nutrients from plants and providing them to the ants through specialized hyphal swellings called gongylidia. Using combined liquid chromatography, ion mobility spectrometry, and tandem mass spectrometry, we evaluated differences between the molecular species of lipids in the leaf-cutter ant fungal garden ecosystem. This lipidomic study characterized leaves that are fed to the gardens, gongylidia that are produced by the fungus to feed the ants, and spatially resolved regions of the fungal garden through stages of leaf degradation. Lipids containing alpha-linolenic acid (18:3) were enriched in leaves and the top of the gardens but not dominant in the middle or bottom regions. Gongylidia were dominated by lipids containing linoleic acid (18:2). To evaluate the communicative potential of the lipids in fungal gardens, we conducted a behavioral experiment that showed Atta leaf-cutter ants responded differently to 18:3 and 18:2 fatty acids, with aggression toward 18:3 and attraction for 18:2. This work demonstrates the role of lipids in both the transfer of energy and as an interkingdom communication tool in leaf-cutter ant fungal gardens. IMPORTANCE In this work, we examined the role of lipids in the mutualism between leaf-cutter ants and fungus. These ants cut fresh leaf material, which they provide to their fungal cultivar, that converts energy and nutrients from the plants and provides it to the ants in specialized hyphal swellings called gongylidia. This work constitutes the first example of a global lipidomics study of a symbiotic system and provides insights as to how the fungus modifies plant lipids into a usable source for the ants. Through a behavioral experiment, this work also demonstrates how lipids can be used as an interkingdom communication tool, in this case, as an attractant rather than as a repellant, which is more often seen. Author Video: An author video summary of this article is available.
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19
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Schiøtt M, Boomsma JJ. Proteomics reveals synergy between biomass degrading enzymes and inorganic Fenton chemistry in leaf-cutting ant colonies. eLife 2021; 10:e61816. [PMID: 33433325 PMCID: PMC7877906 DOI: 10.7554/elife.61816] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2020] [Accepted: 01/09/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
The symbiotic partnership between leaf-cutting ants and fungal cultivars processes plant biomass via ant fecal fluid mixed with chewed plant substrate before fungal degradation. Here we present a full proteome of the fecal fluid of Acromyrmex leaf-cutting ants, showing that most proteins function as biomass degrading enzymes and that ca. 85% are produced by the fungus and ingested, but not digested, by the ants. Hydrogen peroxide producing oxidoreductases were remarkably common in the proteome, inspiring us to test a scenario in which hydrogen peroxide reacts with iron to form reactive oxygen radicals after which oxidized iron is reduced by other fecal-fluid enzymes. Our biochemical assays confirmed that these so-called Fenton reactions do indeed take place in special substrate pellets, presumably to degrade plant cell wall polymers. This implies that the symbiotic partnership manages a combination of oxidative and enzymatic biomass degradation, an achievement that surpasses current human bioconversion technology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Morten Schiøtt
- Centre for Social Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, UniversitetsparkenCopenhagenDenmark
| | - Jacobus J Boomsma
- Centre for Social Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, UniversitetsparkenCopenhagenDenmark
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20
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Li H, Young SE, Poulsen M, Currie CR. Symbiont-Mediated Digestion of Plant Biomass in Fungus-Farming Insects. ANNUAL REVIEW OF ENTOMOLOGY 2021; 66:297-316. [PMID: 32926791 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-ento-040920-061140] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
Feeding on living or dead plant material is widespread in insects. Seminal work on termites and aphids has provided profound insights into the critical nutritional role that microbes play in plant-feeding insects. Some ants, beetles, and termites, among others, have evolved the ability to use microbes to gain indirect access to plant substrate through the farming of a fungus on which they feed. Recent genomic studies, including studies of insect hosts and fungal and bacterial symbionts, as well as metagenomics and proteomics, have provided important insights into plant biomass digestion across insect-fungal mutualisms. Not only do advances in understanding of the divergent and complementary functions of complex symbionts reveal the mechanism of how these herbivorous insects catabolize plant biomass, but these symbionts also represent a promising reservoir for novel carbohydrate-active enzyme discovery, which is of considerable biotechnological interest.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hongjie Li
- State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-products, Key Laboratory of Biotechnology in Plant Protection of Ministry of Agriculture and Zhejiang Province, Institute of Plant Virology, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China;
- Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA; ,
- Department of Energy Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Wisconsin Energy Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53726, USA
| | - Soleil E Young
- Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA; ,
| | - Michael Poulsen
- Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, 2100 Copenhagen East, Denmark;
| | - Cameron R Currie
- Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA; ,
- Department of Energy Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Wisconsin Energy Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53726, USA
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21
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Shik JZ, Kooij PW, Donoso DA, Santos JC, Gomez EB, Franco M, Crumière AJJ, Arnan X, Howe J, Wcislo WT, Boomsma JJ. Nutritional niches reveal fundamental domestication trade-offs in fungus-farming ants. Nat Ecol Evol 2020; 5:122-134. [PMID: 33106603 PMCID: PMC7610523 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-020-01314-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2020] [Accepted: 08/25/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
During crop domestication, human farmers traded greater productivity for higher crop vulnerability outside specialized cultivation conditions. We found a similar domestication tradeoff across the major co-evolutionary transitions in farming systems of attine ants. First, the fundamental nutritional niches (FNNs) of cultivars narrowed during ~ 60 million years of naturally selected domestication, and laboratory experiments showed that ant farmers representing subsequent domestication stages strictly regulate protein harvest relative to cultivar FNNs. Second, ants with different farming systems differed in their abilities to harvest the resources that best matched the nutritional needs of their fungal cultivars. This was assessed by quantifying realized nutritional niches (RNNs) from analyses of items collected from the mandibles of laden ant foragers in the field. Third, extensive field collections suggest that among-colony genetic diversity of cultivars in small-scale farms may offer population-wide resilience benefits that species with large-scale farming colonies achieve by more elaborate and demanding cultivation practices of less diverse crops. Our results underscore that naturally selected farming systems have potential to shed light on nutritional tradeoffs that shaped the course of culturally evolved human farming.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan Z Shik
- Section of Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. .,Centre for Social Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. .,Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Republic of Panama.
| | - Pepijn W Kooij
- Centre for Social Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.,Comparative Fungal Biology, Department of Comparative Plant and Fungal Biology, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London, UK.,Center for the Study of Social Insects, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Rio Claro, Brazil
| | - David A Donoso
- Departamento de Biología, Escuela Politécnica Nacional, Quito, Ecuador.,Centro de Investigación de la Biodiversidad y Cambio Climático, Universidad Tecnológica Indoamérica, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Juan C Santos
- Department of Biological Sciences, St. John's University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Ernesto B Gomez
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Republic of Panama
| | - Mariana Franco
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Republic of Panama
| | - Antonin J J Crumière
- Section of Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Xavier Arnan
- Centre de Recerca Ecològica i Aplicacions Forestals (CREAF), Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain.,Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pernambuco, Garanhuns, Brazil
| | - Jack Howe
- Centre for Social Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.,Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - William T Wcislo
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Republic of Panama
| | - Jacobus J Boomsma
- Section of Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.,Centre for Social Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
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22
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Khadempour L, Fan H, Keefover-Ring K, Carlos-Shanley C, Nagamoto NS, Dam MA, Pupo MT, Currie CR. Metagenomics Reveals Diet-Specific Specialization of Bacterial Communities in Fungus Gardens of Grass- and Dicot-Cutter Ants. Front Microbiol 2020; 11:570770. [PMID: 33072030 PMCID: PMC7541895 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.570770] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2020] [Accepted: 08/20/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Leaf-cutter ants in the genus Atta are dominant herbivores in the Neotropics. While most species of Atta cut dicots to incorporate into their fungus gardens, some species specialize on grasses. Here we examine the bacterial community associated with the fungus gardens of grass- and dicot-cutter ants to examine how changes in substrate input affect the bacterial community. We sequenced the metagenomes of 12 Atta fungus gardens, across four species of ants, with a total of 5.316 Gbp of sequence data. We show significant differences in the fungus garden bacterial community composition between dicot- and grass-cutter ants, with grass-cutter ants having lower diversity. Reflecting this difference in community composition, the bacterial functional profiles between the fungus gardens are significantly different. Specifically, grass-cutter ant fungus garden metagenomes are particularly enriched for genes responsible for amino acid, siderophore, and terpenoid biosynthesis while dicot-cutter ant fungus gardens metagenomes are enriched in genes involved in membrane transport. Differences between community composition and functional capacity of the bacteria in the two types of fungus gardens reflect differences in the substrates that the ants incorporated. These results show that different substrate inputs matter for fungus garden bacteria and shed light on the potential role of bacteria in mediating the ants’ transition to the use of a novel substrate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lily Khadempour
- Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States.,Department of Energy Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States.,Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Rutgers University, Newark, Newark, NJ, United States
| | - Huan Fan
- Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States.,Center for Integrative Conservation, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yunnan, China
| | - Ken Keefover-Ring
- Departments of Botany and Geography, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States
| | - Camila Carlos-Shanley
- Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States.,Department of Energy Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States.,Department of Biology, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX, United States
| | - Nilson S Nagamoto
- Department of Plant Protection, São Paulo State University, Botucatu, Brazil
| | - Miranda A Dam
- Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States
| | - Monica T Pupo
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
| | - Cameron R Currie
- Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States.,Department of Energy Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States
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23
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Batey SFD, Greco C, Hutchings MI, Wilkinson B. Chemical warfare between fungus-growing ants and their pathogens. Curr Opin Chem Biol 2020; 59:172-181. [PMID: 32949983 PMCID: PMC7763482 DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2020.08.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2020] [Revised: 07/28/2020] [Accepted: 08/03/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Fungus-growing attine ants are under constant threat from fungal pathogens such as the specialized mycoparasite Escovopsis, which uses combined physical and chemical attack strategies to prey on the fungal gardens of the ants. In defence, some species assemble protective microbiomes on their exoskeletons that contain antimicrobial-producing Actinobacteria. Underlying this network of mutualistic and antagonistic interactions are an array of chemical signals. Escovopsis weberi produces the shearinine terpene-indole alkaloids, which affect ant behaviour, diketopiperazines to combat defensive bacteria, and other small molecules that inhibit the fungal cultivar. Pseudonocardia and Streptomyces mutualist bacteria produce depsipeptide and polyene macrolide antifungals active against Escovopsis spp. The ant nest metabolome is further complicated by competition between defensive bacteria, which produce antibacterials active against even closely related species. Specialist fungal pathogens attack the nests of fungus-growing ants. Ants form mutualistic relationships with defensive actinomycete bacteria. Specialised metabolites underpin these mutualistic and antagonistic interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sibyl F D Batey
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, John Innes Centre, Norwich, NR4 7UH, United Kingdom
| | - Claudio Greco
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, John Innes Centre, Norwich, NR4 7UH, United Kingdom
| | - Matthew I Hutchings
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, John Innes Centre, Norwich, NR4 7UH, United Kingdom; School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TU, United Kingdom.
| | - Barrie Wilkinson
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, John Innes Centre, Norwich, NR4 7UH, United Kingdom.
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24
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Abstract
Humans have been domesticating plants, animals and microbes for centuries. But are we alone in doing so? Brooker and Feeney explain how domestication by animals of other species goes back even farther.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rohan M Brooker
- Centre for Integrated Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia.
| | - William E Feeney
- Environmental Futures Research Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Australia
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25
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Goes AC, Barcoto MO, Kooij PW, Bueno OC, Rodrigues A. How Do Leaf-Cutting Ants Recognize Antagonistic Microbes in Their Fungal Crops? Front Ecol Evol 2020. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2020.00095] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
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26
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High diversity and multiple invasions to North America by fungi grown by the northern-most Trachymyrmex and Mycetomoellerius ant species. FUNGAL ECOL 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.funeco.2019.100878] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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27
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Phytochemical characteristics of leaves determine foraging rate of the leaf-cutting ant Atta mexicana (Smith) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). CHEMOECOLOGY 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s00049-020-00306-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
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28
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Crumière AJJ, Stephenson CJ, Nagel M, Shik JZ. Using Nutritional Geometry to Explore How Social Insects Navigate Nutritional Landscapes. INSECTS 2020; 11:E53. [PMID: 31952303 PMCID: PMC7022258 DOI: 10.3390/insects11010053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2019] [Revised: 01/11/2020] [Accepted: 01/11/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Insects face many cognitive challenges as they navigate nutritional landscapes that comprise their foraging environments with potential food items. The emerging field of nutritional geometry (NG) can help visualize these challenges, as well as the foraging solutions exhibited by insects. Social insect species must also make these decisions while integrating social information (e.g., provisioning kin) and/or offsetting nutrients provisioned to, or received from unrelated mutualists. In this review, we extend the logic of NG to make predictions about how cognitive challenges ramify across these social dimensions. Focusing on ants, we outline NG predictions in terms of fundamental and realized nutritional niches, considering when ants interact with related nestmates and unrelated bacterial, fungal, plant, and insect mutualists. The nutritional landscape framework we propose provides new avenues for hypothesis testing and for integrating cognition research with broader eco-evolutionary principles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonin J. J. Crumière
- Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Calum J. Stephenson
- Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Manuel Nagel
- Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Jonathan Z. Shik
- Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado Postal 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Panama
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29
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Abstract
The evolution of a mutualism requires reciprocal interactions whereby one species provides a service that the other species cannot perform or performs less efficiently. Services exchanged in insect-fungus mutualisms include nutrition, protection, and dispersal. In ectosymbioses, which are the focus of this review, fungi can be consumed by insects or can degrade plant polymers or defensive compounds, thereby making a substrate available to insects. They can also protect against environmental factors and produce compounds antagonistic to microbial competitors. Insects disperse fungi and can also provide fungal growth substrates and protection. Insect-fungus mutualisms can transition from facultative to obligate, whereby each partner is no longer viable on its own. Obligate dependency has (a) resulted in the evolution of morphological adaptations in insects and fungi, (b) driven the evolution of social behaviors in some groups of insects, and (c) led to the loss of sexuality in some fungal mutualists.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter H W Biedermann
- Research Group Insect-Fungus Symbiosis, Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, University of Würzburg, 97074 Würzburg, Germany;
| | - Fernando E Vega
- Sustainable Perennial Crops Laboratory, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, Maryland 20705, USA;
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30
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Chomicki G, Renner SS. Farming by ants remodels nutrient uptake in epiphytes. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2019; 223:2011-2023. [PMID: 31236967 DOI: 10.1111/nph.15855] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2019] [Accepted: 03/30/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
True agriculture - defined by habitual planting, cultivation, harvesting and dependence of a farmer on a crop - is known from fungi farmed by ants, termites or beetles, and plants farmed by humans or ants. Because farmers supply their crops with nutrients, they have the potential to modify crop nutrition over evolutionary time. Here we test this hypothesis in ant/plant farming symbioses. We used field experiments, phylogenetic-comparative analyses and computed-tomography scanning to investigate how the evolution of farming by ants has impacted the nutrition of locally coexisting species in the epiphytic genus Squamellaria (Rubiaceae). Using isotope-labelled mineral and organic nitrogen, we show that specialised ants actively and exclusively fertilise hyperabsorptive warts on the inner walls of plant-formed structures (domatia) where they nest, sharply contrasting with nitrogen provisioning by ants in nonfarming generalist symbioses. Similar hyperabsorptive warts have evolved repeatedly in lineages colonised by farming ants. Our study supports the idea that millions of years of ant agriculture have remodelled plant physiology, shifting from ant-derived nutrients as by-products to active and targeted fertilisation on hyperabsorptive sites. The increased efficiency of ant-derived nutrient provisioning appears to stem from a combination of farming ant behaviour and plant 'crop' traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guillaume Chomicki
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3RB, UK
- The Queen's College, High St., Oxford, OX1 4AW, UK
| | - Susanne S Renner
- Systematic Botany and Mycology, Department of Biology, University of Munich (LMU), Menzinger Str. 67, Munich, 80638, Germany
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31
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Ike PTL, Birolli WG, Dos Santos DM, Porto ALM, Souza DHF. Biodegradation of anthracene and different PAHs by a yellow laccase from Leucoagaricus gongylophorus. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2019; 26:8675-8684. [PMID: 30706277 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-019-04197-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2018] [Accepted: 01/08/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Laccases produced by Leucoagaricus gongylophorus act in lignocellulose degradation and detoxification processes. Therefore, the use of L. gongylophorus laccase (Lac1Lg) was proposed in this work for degradation of anthracene and others polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons without the use of mediators. Degradation reactions were performed in buffer aqueous solution with 10 ppm of anthracene and other PAHs, Tween-20 in 0.25% v/v and a laccase preparation of 50 U. The optimum condition (pH 6.0 and 30 °C) was determined by response surface methodology with an excellent coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.97 and an adjusted coefficient of determination (R2adj) of 0.93. In addition, the employment of the mediator ABTS decreased the anthracene biodegradation from 44 ± 1% to 30 ± 1%. This optimum pH of 6.0 suggests that the reaction occurs by a hydrogen atom transfer mechanism. Additionally, in 24 h Lac1Lg biodegraded 72 ± 1% anthracene, 40 ± 3% fluorene and 25 ± 3% phenanthrene. The yellow laccase from L. gongylophorus biodegraded anthracene and produced anthrone and anthraquinone, which are interesting compounds for industrial applications. Moreover, this enzyme also biodegraded the PAHs phenanthrene and fluorene justifying the study of Lac1Lg for bioremediation of these compounds in the environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Priscila Tomie Leme Ike
- Centro de Ciências Exatas e de Tecnologia, Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, Rodovia Washington Luis, km 235, São Carlos, SP, 13565-905, Brazil
- Instituto Federal do Paraná, Rua Antonio Carlos Rodrigues, 453, Porto Seguro, Paranaguá, PR, 87703-539, Brazil
| | - Willian Garcia Birolli
- Laboratório de Química Orgânica e Biocatálise, Instituto de Química de São Carlos, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. João Dagnone, 1100, Ed. Química Ambiental, J. Santa Angelina, São Carlos, SP, 13563-120, Brazil
| | - Danilo Martins Dos Santos
- Laboratório de Química Orgânica e Biocatálise, Instituto de Química de São Carlos, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. João Dagnone, 1100, Ed. Química Ambiental, J. Santa Angelina, São Carlos, SP, 13563-120, Brazil
| | - André Luiz Meleiro Porto
- Laboratório de Química Orgânica e Biocatálise, Instituto de Química de São Carlos, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. João Dagnone, 1100, Ed. Química Ambiental, J. Santa Angelina, São Carlos, SP, 13563-120, Brazil.
| | - Dulce Helena Ferreira Souza
- Centro de Ciências Exatas e de Tecnologia, Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, Rodovia Washington Luis, km 235, São Carlos, SP, 13565-905, Brazil
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32
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Blaz J, Barrera-Redondo J, Vázquez-Rosas-Landa M, Canedo-Téxon A, Aguirre von Wobeser E, Carrillo D, Stouthamer R, Eskalen A, Villafán E, Alonso-Sánchez A, Lamelas A, Ibarra-Juarez LA, Pérez-Torres CA, Ibarra-Laclette E. Genomic Signals of Adaptation towards Mutualism and Sociality in Two Ambrosia Beetle Complexes. Life (Basel) 2018; 9:E2. [PMID: 30583535 PMCID: PMC6463014 DOI: 10.3390/life9010002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2018] [Revised: 12/08/2018] [Accepted: 12/20/2018] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Mutualistic symbiosis and eusociality have developed through gradual evolutionary processes at different times in specific lineages. Like some species of termites and ants, ambrosia beetles have independently evolved a mutualistic nutritional symbiosis with fungi, which has been associated with the evolution of complex social behaviors in some members of this group. We sequenced the transcriptomes of two ambrosia complexes (Euwallacea sp. near fornicatus⁻Fusarium euwallaceae and Xyleborus glabratus⁻Raffaelea lauricola) to find evolutionary signatures associated with mutualism and behavior evolution. We identified signatures of positive selection in genes related to nutrient homeostasis; regulation of gene expression; development and function of the nervous system, which may be involved in diet specialization; behavioral changes; and social evolution in this lineage. Finally, we found convergent changes in evolutionary rates of proteins across lineages with phylogenetically independent origins of sociality and mutualism, suggesting a constrained evolution of conserved genes in social species, and an evolutionary rate acceleration related to changes in selective pressures in mutualistic lineages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jazmín Blaz
- Red de Estudios Moleculares Avanzados, Instituto de Ecología A.C, Xalapa, Veracruz 91070, Mexico.
| | - Josué Barrera-Redondo
- Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México 04500, Mexico.
| | | | - Anahí Canedo-Téxon
- Red de Estudios Moleculares Avanzados, Instituto de Ecología A.C, Xalapa, Veracruz 91070, Mexico.
| | | | - Daniel Carrillo
- Tropical Research and Education Center, University of Florida, Homestead, FL 33031, USA.
| | - Richard Stouthamer
- Department of Plant Pathology, University of California⁻Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
| | - Akif Eskalen
- Department of Plant Pathology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616-8751, USA.
| | - Emanuel Villafán
- Red de Estudios Moleculares Avanzados, Instituto de Ecología A.C, Xalapa, Veracruz 91070, Mexico.
| | - Alexandro Alonso-Sánchez
- Red de Estudios Moleculares Avanzados, Instituto de Ecología A.C, Xalapa, Veracruz 91070, Mexico.
| | - Araceli Lamelas
- Red de Estudios Moleculares Avanzados, Instituto de Ecología A.C, Xalapa, Veracruz 91070, Mexico.
| | - Luis Arturo Ibarra-Juarez
- Red de Estudios Moleculares Avanzados, Instituto de Ecología A.C, Xalapa, Veracruz 91070, Mexico.
- Cátedras CONACyT/Instituto de Ecología A.C., Xalapa, Veracruz 91070, Mexico.
| | - Claudia Anahí Pérez-Torres
- Red de Estudios Moleculares Avanzados, Instituto de Ecología A.C, Xalapa, Veracruz 91070, Mexico.
- Cátedras CONACyT/Instituto de Ecología A.C., Xalapa, Veracruz 91070, Mexico.
| | - Enrique Ibarra-Laclette
- Red de Estudios Moleculares Avanzados, Instituto de Ecología A.C, Xalapa, Veracruz 91070, Mexico.
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33
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Sapountzis P, Zhukova M, Shik JZ, Schiott M, Boomsma JJ. Reconstructing the functions of endosymbiotic Mollicutes in fungus-growing ants. eLife 2018; 7:e39209. [PMID: 30454555 PMCID: PMC6245734 DOI: 10.7554/elife.39209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2018] [Accepted: 10/16/2018] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Mollicutes, a widespread class of bacteria associated with animals and plants, were recently identified as abundant abdominal endosymbionts in healthy workers of attine fungus-farming leaf-cutting ants. We obtained draft genomes of the two most common strains harbored by Panamanian fungus-growing ants. Reconstructions of their functional significance showed that they are independently acquired symbionts, most likely to decompose excess arginine consistent with the farmed fungal cultivars providing this nitrogen-rich amino-acid in variable quantities. Across the attine lineages, the relative abundances of the two Mollicutes strains are associated with the substrate types that foraging workers offer to fungus gardens. One of the symbionts is specific to the leaf-cutting ants and has special genomic machinery to catabolize citrate/glucose into acetate, which appears to deliver direct metabolic energy to the ant workers. Unlike other Mollicutes associated with insect hosts, both attine ant strains have complete phage-defense systems, underlining that they are actively maintained as mutualistic symbionts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Panagiotis Sapountzis
- Centre for Social Evolution, Department of BiologyUniversity of CopenhagenCopenhagenDenmark
| | - Mariya Zhukova
- Centre for Social Evolution, Department of BiologyUniversity of CopenhagenCopenhagenDenmark
| | - Jonathan Z Shik
- Centre for Social Evolution, Department of BiologyUniversity of CopenhagenCopenhagenDenmark
| | - Morten Schiott
- Centre for Social Evolution, Department of BiologyUniversity of CopenhagenCopenhagenDenmark
| | - Jacobus J Boomsma
- Centre for Social Evolution, Department of BiologyUniversity of CopenhagenCopenhagenDenmark
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34
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Shik JZ, Rytter W, Arnan X, Michelsen A. Disentangling nutritional pathways linking leafcutter ants and their co-evolved fungal symbionts using stable isotopes. Ecology 2018; 99:1999-2009. [PMID: 30067862 PMCID: PMC6174977 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.2431] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2017] [Revised: 04/30/2018] [Accepted: 05/19/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Leafcutter ants are the ultimate insect superorganisms, with up to millions of physiologically 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. We tested hypotheses about the nutrient-processing dynamics governing this functional integration, tracing 15 N- and 13 C-enriched substrates through colonies of the leafcutter ant Atta colombica. Our results highlight striking performance efficiencies, including rapid conversion (within 2 d) of harvested nutrients into edible fungal tissue (swollen hyphal tips called gongylidia) in the center of fungus gardens, while also highlighting that much of each colony's foraging effort resulted in substrate placed directly in the trash. We also find nutrient-specific processing dynamics both within and across layers of the fungus garden, and in ant consumers. Larvae exhibited higher overall levels of 15 N and 13 C enrichment than adult workers, supporting that the majority of fungal productivity is allocated to colony growth. Foragers assimilated 13 C-labeled glucose during its ingestion, but required several days to metabolically process ingested 15 N-labeled ammonium nitrate. This processing timeline helps resolve a 40-yr old hypothesis, that foragers (but apparently not gardeners or larvae) bypass their fungal crops to directly assimilate some of the nutrients they ingest outside the nest. Tracing these nutritional pathways with stable isotopes helps visualize how physiological integration within symbiotic networks gives rise to the ecologically dominant herbivory of leafcutter ants in habitats ranging from Argentina to the southern United States.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan Z. Shik
- Centre for Social EvolutionDepartment of BiologyUniversity of CopenhagenUniversitetsparken 152100CopenhagenDenmark
- Smithsonian Tropical Research InstituteApartado0843‐03092BalboaAnconRepublic of Panama
| | - Winnie Rytter
- Centre for Social EvolutionDepartment of BiologyUniversity of CopenhagenUniversitetsparken 152100CopenhagenDenmark
| | - Xavier Arnan
- CREAFCerdanyola del VallèsES‐08193CatalunyaSpain
| | - Anders Michelsen
- Terrestrial Ecology SectionDepartment of BiologyUniversity of CopenhagenUniversitetsparken 152100CopenhagenDenmark
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35
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Heine D, Holmes NA, Worsley SF, Santos ACA, Innocent TM, Scherlach K, Patrick EH, Yu DW, Murrell JC, Vieria PC, Boomsma JJ, Hertweck C, Hutchings MI, Wilkinson B. Chemical warfare between leafcutter ant symbionts and a co-evolved pathogen. Nat Commun 2018; 9:2208. [PMID: 29880868 PMCID: PMC5992151 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-04520-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2017] [Accepted: 04/24/2018] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Acromyrmex leafcutter ants form a mutually beneficial symbiosis with the fungus Leucoagaricus gongylophorus and with Pseudonocardia bacteria. Both are vertically transmitted and actively maintained by the ants. The fungus garden is manured with freshly cut leaves and provides the sole food for the ant larvae, while Pseudonocardia cultures are reared on the ant-cuticle and make antifungal metabolites to help protect the cultivar against disease. If left unchecked, specialized parasitic Escovopsis fungi can overrun the fungus garden and lead to colony collapse. We report that Escovopsis upregulates the production of two specialized metabolites when it infects the cultivar. These compounds inhibit Pseudonocardia and one, shearinine D, also reduces worker behavioral defenses and is ultimately lethal when it accumulates in ant tissues. Our results are consistent with an active evolutionary arms race between Pseudonocardia and Escovopsis, which modifies both bacterial and behavioral defenses such that colony collapse is unavoidable once Escovopsis infections escalate. Acromyrmex ants cultivate fungus gardens that can be parasitized by Escovopsis sp., leading to colony collapse. Here, Heine et al. identify two secondary metabolites produced by Escovopsis that accumulate in Acromyrmex tissue, reduce behavioural defenses and suppress symbiotic Pseudonocardia bacteria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Heine
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, John Innes Centre, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, Norfolk, NR4 7UH, UK
| | - Neil A Holmes
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, Norfolk, NR4 7TJ, UK
| | - Sarah F Worsley
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, Norfolk, NR4 7TJ, UK
| | - Ana Carolina A Santos
- Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology, HKI, Beutenbergstraße 11a, Jena, 07745, Germany.,Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany.,Departmento de Química, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, UFSCar, Via Washington Luiz KM 235, CP 676, São Carlos, SP, Brazil
| | - Tabitha M Innocent
- Department of Biology, Centre for Social Evolution, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, Copenhagen, 2100, Denmark
| | - Kirstin Scherlach
- Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology, HKI, Beutenbergstraße 11a, Jena, 07745, Germany
| | - Elaine H Patrick
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, Norfolk, NR4 7TJ, UK
| | - Douglas W Yu
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, Norfolk, NR4 7TJ, UK
| | - J Colin Murrell
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, Norfolk, NR4 7TJ, UK
| | - Paulo C Vieria
- Departmento de Química, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, UFSCar, Via Washington Luiz KM 235, CP 676, São Carlos, SP, Brazil
| | - Jacobus J Boomsma
- Department of Biology, Centre for Social Evolution, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, Copenhagen, 2100, Denmark
| | - Christian Hertweck
- Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology, HKI, Beutenbergstraße 11a, Jena, 07745, Germany.,Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany
| | - Matthew I Hutchings
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, Norfolk, NR4 7TJ, UK.
| | - Barrie Wilkinson
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, John Innes Centre, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, Norfolk, NR4 7UH, UK.
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36
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Mueller UG, Kardish MR, Ishak HD, Wright AM, Solomon SE, Bruschi SM, Carlson AL, Bacci M. Phylogenetic patterns of ant-fungus associations indicate that farming strategies, not only a superior fungal cultivar, explain the ecological success of leafcutter ants. Mol Ecol 2018; 27:2414-2434. [PMID: 29740906 DOI: 10.1111/mec.14588] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2017] [Revised: 03/13/2018] [Accepted: 03/14/2018] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
To elucidate fungicultural specializations contributing to ecological dominance of leafcutter ants, we estimate the phylogeny of fungi cultivated by fungus-growing (attine) ants, including fungal cultivars from (i) the entire leafcutter range from southern South America to southern North America, (ii) all higher-attine ant lineages (leafcutting genera Atta, Acromyrmex; nonleafcutting genera Trachymyrmex, Sericomyrmex) and (iii) all lower-attine lineages. Higher-attine fungi form two clades, Clade-A fungi (Leucocoprinus gongylophorus, formerly Attamyces) previously thought to be cultivated only by leafcutter ants, and a sister clade, Clade-B fungi, previously thought to be cultivated only by Trachymyrmex and Sericomyrmex ants. Contradicting this traditional view, we find that (i) leafcutter ants are not specialized to cultivate only Clade-A fungi because some leafcutter species ranging across South America cultivate Clade-B fungi; (ii) Trachymyrmex ants are not specialized to cultivate only Clade-B fungi because some Trachymyrmex species cultivate Clade-A fungi and other Trachymyrmex species cultivate fungi known so far only from lower-attine ants; (iii) in some locations, single higher-attine ant species or closely related cryptic species cultivate both Clade-A and Clade-B fungi; and (iv) ant-fungus co-evolution among higher-attine mutualisms is therefore less specialized than previously thought. Sympatric leafcutter ants can be ecologically dominant when cultivating either Clade-A or Clade-B fungi, sustaining with either cultivar-type huge nests that command large foraging territories; conversely, sympatric Trachymyrmex ants cultivating either Clade-A or Clade-B fungi can be locally abundant without achieving the ecological dominance of leafcutter ants. Ecological dominance of leafcutter ants therefore does not depend primarily on specialized fungiculture of L. gongylophorus (Clade-A), but must derive from ant-fungus synergisms and unique ant adaptations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ulrich G Mueller
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
| | - Melissa R Kardish
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas.,Center for Population Biology, University of California, Davis, California
| | - Heather D Ishak
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas.,Department of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, California
| | - April M Wright
- Department of Biological Science, Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, Louisiana
| | - Scott E Solomon
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Rice University, Houston, Texas.,Department of Entomology, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, District of Columbia
| | - Sofia M Bruschi
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas.,Centro de Estudos de Insetos Sociais, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Rio Claro, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Alexis L Carlson
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
| | - Maurício Bacci
- Centro de Estudos de Insetos Sociais, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Rio Claro, São Paulo, Brazil
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37
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Abstract
The kingdom Fungi comprises species that inhabit nearly all ecosystems. Fungi exist as both free-living and symbiotic unicellular and multicellular organisms with diverse morphologies. The genomes of fungi encode genes that enable them to thrive in diverse environments, invade plant and animal cells, and participate in nutrient cycling in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. The continuously expanding databases of fungal genome sequences have been generated by individual and large-scale efforts such as Génolevures, Broad Institute's Fungal Genome Initiative, and the 1000 Fungal Genomes Project (http://1000.fungalgenomes.org). These efforts have produced a catalog of fungal genes and genomic organization. The genomic datasets can be utilized to better understand how fungi have adapted to their lifestyles and ecological niches. Large datasets of fungal genomic and transcriptomic data have enabled the use of novel methodologies and improved the study of fungal evolution from a molecular sequence perspective. Combined with microscopes, petri dishes, and woodland forays, genome sequencing supports bioinformatics and comparative genomics approaches as important tools in the study of the biology and evolution of fungi.
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38
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Epps MJ, Penick CA. Facultative mushroom feeding by common woodland ants (Formicidae, Aphaenogaster spp.). FOOD WEBS 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.fooweb.2017.12.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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39
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Pyrazines from bacteria and ants: convergent chemistry within an ecological niche. Sci Rep 2018; 8:2595. [PMID: 29416082 PMCID: PMC5803209 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-20953-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2017] [Accepted: 01/26/2018] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Ants use pheromones to coordinate their communal activity. Volatile pyrazines, for instance, mediate food resource gathering and alarm behaviors in different ant species. Here we report that leaf-cutter ant-associated bacteria produce a family of pyrazines that includes members previously identified as ant trail and alarm pheromones. We found that L-threonine induces the bacterial production of the trail pheromone pyrazines, which are common for the host leaf-cutter ants. Isotope feeding experiments revealed that L-threonine along with sodium acetate were the biosynthetic precursors of these natural products and a biosynthetic pathway was proposed.
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40
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Abstract
The larval stage of the stingless bee Scaptotrigona depilis must consume a specific brood cell fungus in order to continue development. Here we show that this fungus is a member of the genus Zygosaccharomyces and provides essential steroid precursors to the developing bee. Insect pupation requires ecdysteroid hormones, and as insects cannot synthesize sterols de novo, they must obtain steroids in their diet. Larval in vitro culturing assays demonstrated that consuming ergosterol recapitulates the developmental effects on S. depilis as ingestion of Zygosaccharomyces sp. cells. Thus, we determined the molecular underpinning of this intimate mutualistic symbiosis. Phylogenetic analyses showed that similar cases of bee-Zygosaccharomyces symbiosis may exist. This unprecedented case of bee-fungus symbiosis driven by steroid requirement brings new perspectives regarding pollinator-microbiota interaction and preservation.
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41
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Carlson AL, Ishak HD, Kurian J, Mikheyev AS, Gifford I, Mueller UG. Nuclear populations of the multinucleate fungus of leafcutter ants can be dekaryotized and recombined to manipulate growth of nutritive hyphal nodules harvested by the ants. Mycologia 2018; 109:832-846. [PMID: 29300677 DOI: 10.1080/00275514.2017.1400304] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
We dekaryotized the multinucleate fungus Leucocoprinus gongylophorus, a symbiotic fungus cultivated vegetatively by leafcutter ants as their food. To track genetic changes resulting from dekaryotization (elimination of some nuclei from the multinuclear population), we developed two multiplex microsatellite fingerprinting panels (15 loci total), then characterized the allele profiles of 129 accessions generated by dekaryotization treatment. Genotype profiles of the 129 accessions confirmed allele loss expected by dekaryotization of the multinucleate fungus. We found no evidence for haploid and single-nucleus strains among the 129 accessions. Microscopy of fluorescently stained dekaryotized accessions revealed great variation in nuclei number between cells of the same vegetative mycelium, with cells containing typically between 3 and 15 nuclei/cell (average = 9.4 nuclei/cell; mode = 8). We distinguish four mycelial morphotypes among the dekaryotized accessions; some of these morphotypes had lost the full competence to produce gongylidia (nutritive hyphal-tip swellings consumed by leafcutter ants as food). In mycelial growth confrontations between different gongylidia-incompetent accessions, allele profiles suggest exchange of nuclei between dekaryotized accessions, restoring full gongylidia competence in some of these strains. The restoration of gongylidia competence after genetic exchange between dekaryotized strains suggests the hypothesis that complementary nuclei interact, or nuclear and cytoplasmic factors interact, to promote or enable gongylidia competence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexis L Carlson
- a Department of Integrative Biology , University of Texas at Austin , Austin , Texas 78712
| | - Heather D Ishak
- a Department of Integrative Biology , University of Texas at Austin , Austin , Texas 78712
| | - James Kurian
- a Department of Integrative Biology , University of Texas at Austin , Austin , Texas 78712
| | - Alexander S Mikheyev
- b Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology , 1919-1 Tancha, Onna-son, Kunigami , Okinawa 904-2234 , Japan
| | - Isaac Gifford
- a Department of Integrative Biology , University of Texas at Austin , Austin , Texas 78712
| | - Ulrich G Mueller
- a Department of Integrative Biology , University of Texas at Austin , Austin , Texas 78712
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42
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Farder-Gomes CF, Oliveira MA, Gonçalves PL, Gontijo LM, Zanuncio JC, Bragança MAL, Pires EM. Reproductive ecology of phorid parasitoids in relation to the head size of leaf-cutting ants Atta sexdens Forel. BULLETIN OF ENTOMOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2017; 107:487-492. [PMID: 27903323 DOI: 10.1017/s0007485316001073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
The leaf-cutting ant Atta sexdens Forel (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) is one of the most damaging agricultural pests in the Neotropics. Management strategies predominantly rely on the use of general insecticides. What is needed are more species-specific and environmentally friendly options. Parasitioids such as phorid flies (Diptera: Phoridae) may be one such option, but a greater understanding of the ecology of the flies and their ant hosts is essential to devise biological control strategies. Here we report parasitism rates, ant host size, parasitoid abundance per host and resultant sex ratios of two phorid species Apocephalus attophilus Borgmeier and Eibesfeldtphora tonhascai Brown parasitizing A.sexdens. The two species achieved parasitism rates of 1.48 and 1.46%, respectively and the pupal period was 14.7 ± 1.1 days and 22.1 ± 2.8 days, respectively. There was no significant difference between the head capsule width of ants parasitized by either A. attophilus or E. tonhascai. Likewise, there was no significant effect between the head capsule width of parasitized and unparasitized ants for both species. A significant positive correlation was found between the head capsule width of the parasitized ants and the number of adult parasitoids A. attophilus emerged. Ants parasitized by E. tonhascai survived significantly longer than those parasitized by A. attophilus. There was no significant effect of ant head width on the sex ratio of the offspring of either parasitoid species and no significant difference in the sex ratio (male: female) of their offspring. In summary, these data addressed here are important steps when considering natural enemies for biological control. Studying survival of the parasitized ants, parasitoid offspring sex ratio and host size preference allows for a better understanding of ant natural biological control in the field and can help in rearing of A. attophilus and E. tonhascai in laboratory.
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Affiliation(s)
- C F Farder-Gomes
- Departamento de Biologia Animal,Universidade Federal de Viçosa,Viçosa,Minas Gerais,Brasil
| | - M A Oliveira
- Instituto de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade Federal de Viçosa,campusUFV Florestal,Florestal,Minas Gerais,Brasil
| | - P L Gonçalves
- Instituto de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade Federal de Viçosa,campusUFV Florestal,Florestal,Minas Gerais,Brasil
| | - L M Gontijo
- Instituto de Ciências Agrárias, Universidade Federal de Viçosa,campusUFV Florestal,Florestal,Minas Gerais,Brasil
| | - J C Zanuncio
- Departamento de Biologia Animal,Universidade Federal de Viçosa,Viçosa,Minas Gerais,Brasil
| | - M A L Bragança
- Curso de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Tocantins,Porto Nacional,Tocantins,Brasil
| | - E M Pires
- Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso,campusSinop,Sinop,Mato Grosso,Brasil
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43
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Silva-Junior EAD, Paludo CR, Valadares L, Lopes NP, Nascimento FSD, Pupo MT. Aflatoxins produced by Aspergillus nomius ASR3, a pathogen isolated from the leaf-cutter ant Atta sexdens rubropilosa. REVISTA BRASILEIRA DE FARMACOGNOSIA-BRAZILIAN JOURNAL OF PHARMACOGNOSY 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bjp.2017.05.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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44
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Augustin JO, Simões TG, Dijksterhuis J, Elliot SL, Evans HC. Putting the waste out: a proposed mechanism for transmission of the mycoparasite Escovopsis between leafcutter ant colonies. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2017; 4:161013. [PMID: 28572992 PMCID: PMC5451793 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.161013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2016] [Accepted: 04/18/2017] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
The attine ant system is a remarkable example of symbiosis. An antagonistic partner within this system is the fungal parasite Escovopsis, a genus specific to the fungal gardens of the Attini. Escovopsis parasitizes the Leucoagaricus symbiont that leaf-cutting ants (Acromyrmex, Atta) have been farming over the past 8-12 Myr. However, it has been a puzzle how Escovopsis reaches its host. During a seasonal survey of nests of Acromyrmex subterraneus subterraneus in Atlantic rainforest in Brazil, Escovopsis was detected in all the sampled fungal garden waste tips or middens (n = 111). Middens were built strategically; always below the nest entrances. Here, we report the first evidence of a putative mechanism for horizontal transmission of Escovopsis between attine colonies. It is posited that leaf-cutting ants pick up the spores from soil and litter during foraging and vector the mycoparasite between attine colonies. Field and laboratory experiments, using At. laevigata and Ac. subterraneus subterraneus, confirm that Escovopsis spores are phoretic, and have an inbuilt dormancy, broken by the presence of their Leucoagaricus host. However, in the coevolutionary arms race, Atta ants may lose out-despite most species in the genus investing in a more advanced waste disposal system-due to the insanitary habits of their Acromyrmex neighbours.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juliana O. Augustin
- Department of Entomology, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, CEP 36.570-900, Viçosa, MG, Brazil
| | - Talitta G. Simões
- Department of Entomology, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, CEP 36.570-900, Viçosa, MG, Brazil
| | - Jan Dijksterhuis
- CBS-KNAW Fungal Biodiversity Centre, PO Box 85167.3508 AD, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Simon L. Elliot
- Department of Entomology, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, CEP 36.570-900, Viçosa, MG, Brazil
| | - Harry C. Evans
- Department of Entomology, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, CEP 36.570-900, Viçosa, MG, Brazil
- CAB International, E-UK Centre, Egham, Surrey TW20 9TY, UK
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45
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DeMilto AM, Rouquette M, Mueller UG, Kellner K, Seal JN. Effects of substrate, ant and fungal species on plant fiber degradation in a fungus-gardening ant symbiosis. JOURNAL OF INSECT PHYSIOLOGY 2017; 98:301-308. [PMID: 28193479 DOI: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2017.02.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2016] [Revised: 02/03/2017] [Accepted: 02/06/2017] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Fungus-gardening or attine ants have outsourced most of their digestive function to a symbiotic fungus. The ants feed their fungus - essentially an external digestive organ - a variety of substrates of botanical origin, including fresh and dried flowers, leaves and insect frass (processed leaves). Although plant tissues are rich in fibers (lignocelluloses, hemicelluloses, pectins and starches) and the symbiotic fungus possesses the genetic and enzymatic machinery to metabolize these compounds, the highly derived attines, the leaf-cutters (Atta and Acromyrmex), are known to produce fiber-rich waste. While leaf-cutting ants are important consumers of primary plant tissue, there have been fewer studies on physiological activity of fungi grown by closely related ant species in the genus Trachymyrmex, which generally grow related species of fungi, have smaller colonies and consume a wider variety of fungal substrates in addition to fresh leaves and flowers. In this study, we measured the cellulase activity of the fungus-gardening ants Atta texana, Trachymyrmex arizonensis and T. septentrionalis. We then quantified fiber consumption of the fungus-gardening ants Trachymyrmex septentrionalis and Trachymyrmex arizonensis by comparing the amounts and percentages present in their food and in fungus garden refuse during a controlled feeding experiment over the span of several months. Finally, we compared waste composition of T. arizonensis colonies growing different fungal strains, because this species is known to cultivate multiple strains of Leucoagaricus in its native range. The leaf-cutting ant A. texana was found to have lower cellulytic activity than T. arizonensis or T. septentrionalis. Total lignocellulose and hemicellulose amounts were significantly lower in refuse piles than in the substrates fed to the Trachymyrmex colonies, thus these fibers were consumed by the fungal symbionts of these ant species. Although lignocellulose utilization was similar in two distinct fungal species grown by T. arizonensis colonies, hemicellulose utilization was higher in T. arizonensis colonies growing a derived leaf-cutting ant fungal symbiont than when growing a native type of symbiont. The results of this study demonstrate that fiber digestion in fungus-gardening ants is an outcome of ant-fungal interaction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandria M DeMilto
- Department of Biology, University of Texas at Tyler, 3900 University Blvd, Tyler, TX 75799, USA.
| | - Monte Rouquette
- Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, Texas A&M University Agricultural Research and Extension Center at Overton, Overton, TX 75684, USA.
| | - Ulrich G Mueller
- Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station #C0930, Austin, TX 78712, USA.
| | - Katrin Kellner
- Department of Biology, University of Texas at Tyler, 3900 University Blvd, Tyler, TX 75799, USA.
| | - Jon N Seal
- Department of Biology, University of Texas at Tyler, 3900 University Blvd, Tyler, TX 75799, USA; Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station #C0930, Austin, TX 78712, USA.
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46
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Holmes NA, Innocent TM, Heine D, Bassam MA, Worsley SF, Trottmann F, Patrick EH, Yu DW, Murrell JC, Schiøtt M, Wilkinson B, Boomsma JJ, Hutchings MI. Genome Analysis of Two Pseudonocardia Phylotypes Associated with Acromyrmex Leafcutter Ants Reveals Their Biosynthetic Potential. Front Microbiol 2016; 7:2073. [PMID: 28082956 PMCID: PMC5183585 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2016.02073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2016] [Accepted: 12/08/2016] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The attine ants of South and Central America are ancient farmers, having evolved a symbiosis with a fungal food crop >50 million years ago. The most evolutionarily derived attines are the Atta and Acromyrmex leafcutter ants, which harvest fresh leaves to feed their fungus. Acromyrmex and many other attines vertically transmit a mutualistic strain of Pseudonocardia and use antifungal compounds made by these bacteria to protect their fungal partner against co-evolved fungal pathogens of the genus Escovopsis. Pseudonocardia mutualists associated with the attines Apterostigma dentigerum and Trachymyrmex cornetzi make novel cyclic depsipeptide compounds called gerumycins, while a mutualist strain isolated from derived Acromyrmex octospinosus makes an unusual polyene antifungal called nystatin P1. The novelty of these antimicrobials suggests there is merit in exploring secondary metabolites of Pseudonocardia on a genome-wide scale. Here, we report a genomic analysis of the Pseudonocardia phylotypes Ps1 and Ps2 that are consistently associated with Acromyrmex ants collected in Gamboa, Panama. These were previously distinguished solely on the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequencing but genome sequencing of five Ps1 and five Ps2 strains revealed that the phylotypes are distinct species and each encodes between 11 and 15 secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs). There are signature BGCs for Ps1 and Ps2 strains and some that are conserved in both. Ps1 strains all contain BGCs encoding nystatin P1-like antifungals, while the Ps2 strains encode novel nystatin-like molecules. Strains show variations in the arrangement of these BGCs that resemble those seen in gerumycin gene clusters. Genome analyses and invasion assays support our hypothesis that vertically transmitted Ps1 and Ps2 strains have antibacterial activity that could help shape the cuticular microbiome. Thus, our work defines the Pseudonocardia species associated with Acromyrmex ants and supports the hypothesis that Pseudonocardia species could provide a valuable source of new antimicrobials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Neil A Holmes
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia (UEA) Norwich, UK
| | - Tabitha M Innocent
- Centre for Social Evolution, University of Copenhagen Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Daniel Heine
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, John Innes Centre Norwich, UK
| | - Mahmoud Al Bassam
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia (UEA) Norwich, UK
| | - Sarah F Worsley
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia (UEA) Norwich, UK
| | - Felix Trottmann
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, John Innes Centre Norwich, UK
| | - Elaine H Patrick
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia (UEA) Norwich, UK
| | - Douglas W Yu
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia (UEA)Norwich, UK; State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of ZoologyKunming, China
| | - J C Murrell
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia (UEA) Norwich, UK
| | - Morten Schiøtt
- Centre for Social Evolution, University of Copenhagen Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Barrie Wilkinson
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, John Innes Centre Norwich, UK
| | - Jacobus J Boomsma
- Centre for Social Evolution, University of Copenhagen Copenhagen, Denmark
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47
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Meirelles LA, McFrederick QS, Rodrigues A, Mantovani JD, de Melo Rodovalho C, Ferreira H, Bacci M, Mueller UG. Bacterial microbiomes from vertically transmitted fungal inocula of the leaf-cutting ant Atta texana. ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY REPORTS 2016; 8:630-640. [PMID: 27273758 DOI: 10.1111/1758-2229.12415] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2015] [Accepted: 03/26/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Microbiome surveys provide clues for the functional roles of symbiotic microbial communities and their hosts. In this study, we elucidated bacterial microbiomes associated with the vertically transmitted fungal inocula (pellets) used by foundress queens of the leaf-cutting ant Atta texana as starter-cultures for new gardens. As reference microbiomes, we also surveyed bacterial microbiomes of foundress queens, gardens and brood of incipient nests. Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, Propionibacterium and Corynebacterium were consistently present in high abundance in microbiomes. Some pellet and ant samples contained abundant bacteria from an Entomoplasmatales-clade, and a separate PCR-based survey of Entomoplasmatales bacteria in eight attine ant-genera from Brazil placed these bacteria in a monophyletic clade within the bacterial genus Mesoplasma. The attine ant-Mesoplasma association parallels a similar association between a closely related, monophyletic Entomoplasmatales-clade and army ants. Of thirteen A. texana nests surveyed, three nests with exceptionally high Mesoplasma abundance died, whereas the other nests survived. It is unclear whether Mesoplasma was the primary cause of mortality, or Mesoplasma became abundant in moribund nests for non-pathogenic reasons. However, the consistent and geographically widespread presence of Mesoplasma suggests an important functional role in the association with attine ants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucas A Meirelles
- Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, UNESP - São Paulo State University, Rio Claro, SP, Brazil
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
- Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | | | - Andre Rodrigues
- Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, UNESP - São Paulo State University, Rio Claro, SP, Brazil
- Center for the Study of Social Insects, UNESP - São Paulo State University, Rio Claro, SP, Brazil
| | - Joana D Mantovani
- Center for the Study of Social Insects, UNESP - São Paulo State University, Rio Claro, SP, Brazil
| | - Cynara de Melo Rodovalho
- Center for the Study of Social Insects, UNESP - São Paulo State University, Rio Claro, SP, Brazil
- Laboratório de Fisiologia e Controle de Artrópodes Vetores, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz - Fiocruz
| | - Henrique Ferreira
- Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, UNESP - São Paulo State University, Rio Claro, SP, Brazil
| | - Maurício Bacci
- Center for the Study of Social Insects, UNESP - São Paulo State University, Rio Claro, SP, Brazil
| | - Ulrich G Mueller
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
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Shik JZ, Gomez EB, Kooij PW, Santos JC, Wcislo WT, Boomsma JJ. Nutrition mediates the expression of cultivar-farmer conflict in a fungus-growing ant. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2016; 113:10121-6. [PMID: 27551065 PMCID: PMC5018747 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1606128113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Attine ants evolved farming 55-60 My before humans. Although evolutionarily derived leafcutter ants achieved industrial-scale farming, extant species from basal attine genera continue to farm loosely domesticated fungal cultivars capable of pursuing independent reproductive interests. We used feeding experiments with the basal attine Mycocepurus smithii to test whether reproductive allocation conflicts between farmers and cultivars constrain crop yield, possibly explaining why their mutualism has remained limited in scale and productivity. Stoichiometric and geometric framework approaches showed that carbohydrate-rich substrates maximize growth of both edible hyphae and inedible mushrooms, but that modest protein provisioning can suppress mushroom formation. Worker foraging was consistent with maximizing long-term cultivar performance: ant farmers could neither increase carbohydrate provisioning without cultivars allocating the excess toward mushroom production, nor increase protein provisioning without compromising somatic cultivar growth. Our results confirm that phylogenetically basal attine farming has been very successful over evolutionary time, but that unresolved host-symbiont conflict may have precluded these wild-type symbioses from rising to ecological dominance. That status was achieved by the evolutionarily derived leafcutter ants following full domestication of a coevolving cultivar 30-35 Mya after the first attine ants committed to farming.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan Z Shik
- Centre for Social Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark; Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Republic of Panama;
| | - Ernesto B Gomez
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Republic of Panama
| | - Pepijn W Kooij
- Centre for Social Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark; Jodrell Laboratory, Comparative Plant and Fungal Biology, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond TW9 3DS, United Kingdom
| | - Juan C Santos
- Department of Biology, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602
| | - William T Wcislo
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Republic of Panama
| | - Jacobus J Boomsma
- Centre for Social Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
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Nygaard S, Hu H, Li C, Schiøtt M, Chen Z, Yang Z, Xie Q, Ma C, Deng Y, Dikow RB, Rabeling C, Nash DR, Wcislo WT, Brady SG, Schultz TR, Zhang G, Boomsma JJ. Reciprocal genomic evolution in the ant-fungus agricultural symbiosis. Nat Commun 2016; 7:12233. [PMID: 27436133 PMCID: PMC4961791 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms12233] [Citation(s) in RCA: 82] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2016] [Accepted: 06/14/2016] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
The attine ant-fungus agricultural symbiosis evolved over tens of millions of years, producing complex societies with industrial-scale farming analogous to that of humans. Here we document reciprocal shifts in the genomes and transcriptomes of seven fungus-farming ant species and their fungal cultivars. We show that ant subsistence farming probably originated in the early Tertiary (55-60 MYA), followed by further transitions to the farming of fully domesticated cultivars and leaf-cutting, both arising earlier than previously estimated. Evolutionary modifications in the ants include unprecedented rates of genome-wide structural rearrangement, early loss of arginine biosynthesis and positive selection on chitinase pathways. Modifications of fungal cultivars include loss of a key ligninase domain, changes in chitin synthesis and a reduction in carbohydrate-degrading enzymes as the ants gradually transitioned to functional herbivory. In contrast to human farming, increasing dependence on a single cultivar lineage appears to have been essential to the origin of industrial-scale ant agriculture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sanne Nygaard
- Centre for Social Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Haofu Hu
- China National Genbank, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China
| | - Cai Li
- China National Genbank, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China
| | - Morten Schiøtt
- Centre for Social Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Zhensheng Chen
- China National Genbank, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China
| | - Zhikai Yang
- China National Genbank, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China
| | - Qiaolin Xie
- China National Genbank, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China
| | - Chunyu Ma
- China National Genbank, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China
| | - Yuan Deng
- China National Genbank, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China
| | - Rebecca B. Dikow
- Smithsonian Institute for Biodiversity Genomics, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC 20013-7012, USA
| | - Christian Rabeling
- Department of Biology, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627, USA
- Department of Entomology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA
| | - David R. Nash
- Centre for Social Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - William T. Wcislo
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancón 03092, Panama
| | - Seán G. Brady
- Department of Entomology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA
| | - Ted R. Schultz
- Department of Entomology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA
| | - Guojie Zhang
- Centre for Social Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
- China National Genbank, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, China
| | - Jacobus J. Boomsma
- Centre for Social Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
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50
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Armitage SAO, Fernández-Marín H, Boomsma JJ, Wcislo WT. Slowing them down will make them lose: a role for attine ant crop fungus in defending pupae against infections? J Anim Ecol 2016; 85:1210-21. [PMID: 27136600 PMCID: PMC6084299 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.12543] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2015] [Accepted: 04/12/2016] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Fungus-growing ants (Attini) have evolved an obligate dependency upon a basidiomycete fungus that they cultivate as their food. Less well known is that the crop fungus is also used by many attine species to cover their eggs, larvae and pupae. The adaptive functional significance of this brood covering is poorly understood. One hypothesis to account for this behaviour is that it is part of the pathogen protection portfolio when many thousands of sister workers live in close proximity and larvae and pupae are not protected by cells, as in bees and wasps, and are immobile. We performed behavioural observations on brood covering in the leaf-cutting ant Acromyrmex echinatior, and we experimentally manipulated mycelial cover on pupae and exposed them to the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium brunneum to test for a role in pathogen resistance. Our results show that active mycelial brood covering by workers is a behaviourally plastic trait that varies temporally, and across life stages and castes. The presence of a fungal cover on the pupae reduced the rate at which conidia appeared and the percentage of pupal surface that produced pathogen spores, compared to pupae that had fungal cover experimentally removed or naturally had no mycelial cover. Infected pupae with mycelium had higher survival rates than infected pupae without the cover, although this depended upon the time at which adult sister workers were allowed to interact with pupae. Finally, workers employed higher rates of metapleural gland grooming to infected pupae without mycelium than to infected pupae with mycelium. Our results imply that mycelial brood covering may play a significant role in suppressing the growth and subsequent spread of disease, thus adding a novel layer of protection to their defence portfolio.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophie A O Armitage
- Department of Biology, Centre for Social Evolution, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Hermógenes Fernández-Marín
- Department of Biology, Centre for Social Evolution, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100, Copenhagen, Denmark.,Instituto de Investigaciones Científicas y Servicios de Alta Tecnología, Edificio 219, Ciudad del Saber, Clayton, Panamá City, Panamá,Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, Panamá
| | - Jacobus J Boomsma
- Department of Biology, Centre for Social Evolution, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - William T Wcislo
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, Panamá
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