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Chavarría-Pizarro L, Núñez-Montero K, Gutiérrez-Araya M, Watson-Guido W, Rivera-Méndez W, Pizarro-Cerdá J. Novel strains of Actinobacteria associated with neotropical social wasps (Vespidae; Polistinae, Epiponini) with antimicrobial potential for natural product discovery. FEMS MICROBES 2024; 5:xtae005. [PMID: 38476864 PMCID: PMC10929769 DOI: 10.1093/femsmc/xtae005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2023] [Revised: 02/16/2024] [Accepted: 02/23/2024] [Indexed: 03/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance has been considered a public health threat. The World Health Organization has warned about the urgency of detecting new antibiotics from novel sources. Social insects could be crucial in the search for new antibiotic metabolites, as some of them survive in places that favor parasite development. Recent studies have shown the potential of social insects to produce antimicrobial metabolites (e.g. ants, bees, and termites). However, most groups of social wasps remain unstudied. Here, we explored whether Actinobacteria are associated with workers in the Neotropical Social Wasps (Epiponini) of Costa Rica and evaluated their putative inhibitory activity against other bacteria. Most isolated strains (67%) have antagonistic effects, mainly against Bacillus thuringensis and Escherichia coli ATCC 25992. Based on genome analysis, some inhibitory Actinobacteria showed biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) related to the production of antimicrobial molecules such as Selvamycin, Piericidin A1, and Nystatin. The Actinobacteria could be associated with social wasps to produce antimicrobial compounds. For these reasons, we speculate that Actinobacteria associated with social wasps could be a novel source of antimicrobial compounds, mainly against Gram-negative bacteria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Chavarría-Pizarro
- Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica, Escuela de Biología-Centro de Investigación en Biotecnología, Calle 15, Avenida 14, 159-7050 Cartago, Costa Rica
| | - Kattia Núñez-Montero
- Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica, Escuela de Biología-Centro de Investigación en Biotecnología, Calle 15, Avenida 14, 159-7050 Cartago, Costa Rica
- Instituto de Ciencias Aplicadas, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Autónoma de Chile, Avenida Alemania 1090, 4810101 Temuco, Chile
| | - Mariela Gutiérrez-Araya
- Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica, Escuela de Biología-Centro de Investigación en Biotecnología, Calle 15, Avenida 14, 159-7050 Cartago, Costa Rica
| | - William Watson-Guido
- Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica, Escuela de Biología-Centro de Investigación en Biotecnología, Calle 15, Avenida 14, 159-7050 Cartago, Costa Rica
| | - William Rivera-Méndez
- Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica, Escuela de Biología-Centro de Investigación en Biotecnología, Calle 15, Avenida 14, 159-7050 Cartago, Costa Rica
| | - Javier Pizarro-Cerdá
- Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS UMR6047, Yersinia Research Unit - Institut Pasteur 28, rue du Docteur Roux - 75724 Paris Cedex 15, France
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2
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de Gier W, Helleman P, van den Oever J, Fransen CHJM. Ecomorphological convergence in the walking leg dactyli of two clades of ascidian- and mollusc-associated shrimps (Decapoda: Caridea: Palaemonidae). Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e10768. [PMID: 38125954 PMCID: PMC10731117 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10768] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2023] [Revised: 11/03/2023] [Accepted: 11/10/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Symbiotic species, living within or on the surface of host organisms, may evolve a wide range of adaptations as a result of various selection pressures, host specificity of the symbiont and the nature of the symbiosis. In tropical marine coral reef ecosystems, palaemonid shrimps (Crustacea: Decapoda: Caridea) live in association with at least five different invertebrate phyla. Host switches between (distantly) related host groups, and the thereby associated selection pressures were found to play a major role in the diversification of these shrimp lineages, giving rise to various host-specific adaptations. Two lineages of palaemonid shrimp, which have switched from an ectosymbiotic association towards endosymbiosis, are studied for their morphological diversification and possible convergence. Special attention is given to the between-phyla host switches involving ascidian and bivalve hosts, which are characteristic for these lineages. Using landmark-based (phylo)morphospace analyses and Scanning Electron Microscopy, the walking leg dactylus shape and the microstructures on these dactyli are studied. No specific bivalve- or ascidian-associated morphotypes were found, but morphological convergence in dactylus morphology was found in various species within the two studied clades with similar host groups. In addition, multiple lineages of bivalve-associated species appear to be morphologically diverging more than their ascidian-associated relatives, with 'intermediate' morphotypes found near host-switching events.
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Affiliation(s)
- Werner de Gier
- Naturalis Biodiversity CenterLeidenThe Netherlands
- Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life SciencesUniversity of GroningenGroningenThe Netherlands
| | - Pepijn Helleman
- Naturalis Biodiversity CenterLeidenThe Netherlands
- Institute of Biology LeidenLeiden UniversityLeidenThe Netherlands
| | - Jurriaan van den Oever
- Naturalis Biodiversity CenterLeidenThe Netherlands
- Institute of Biology LeidenLeiden UniversityLeidenThe Netherlands
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3
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Dejean A, Azémar F, Naskrecki P, Tindo M, Rossi V, Faucher C, Gryta H. Mutualistic interactions between ants and fungi: A review. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e10386. [PMID: 37529578 PMCID: PMC10375366 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10386] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2023] [Revised: 07/19/2023] [Accepted: 07/20/2023] [Indexed: 08/03/2023] Open
Abstract
The large amount of dead plant biomass caused by the final extinction events triggered a fungi proliferation that mostly differentiated into saprophytes degrading organic matter; others became parasites, predators, likely commensals, and mutualists. Among the last, many have relationships with ants, the most emblematic seen in the Neotropical myrmicine Attina that cultivate Basidiomycota for food. Among them, leaf-cutting, fungus-growing species illustrate an ecological innovation because they grow fungal gardens from fresh plant material rather than arthropod frass and plant debris. Myrmecophytes shelter "plant-ants" in hollow structures, the domatia, whose inner walls are lined with thin-walled Ascomycota hyphae that, in certain cases, are eaten by the ants, showing a form of convergence. Typically, these Ascomycota have antibacterial properties illustrating cases of farming for protection. Ant gardens, or mutualistic associations between certain ant species and epiphytes, shelter endophytic fungi that promote the growth of the epiphytes. Because the cell walls of certain Ascomycota hyphae remain sturdy after the death of the mycelium, they form resistant fibers used by ants to reinforce their constructions (e.g., galleries, shelters for tended hemipterans, and carton nests). Thus, we saw cases of "true" fungal agriculture involving planting, cultivating, and harvesting Basidiomycota for food with Attina. A convergence with "plant-ants" feeding on Ascomycota whose antibacterial activity is generally exploited (i.e., farming for protection). The growth of epiphytes was promoted by endophytic fungi in ant gardens. Finally, farming for structural materials occurred with, in one case, a leaf-cutting, fungus-growing ant using Ascomycota fibers to reinforce its nests.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alain Dejean
- Laboratoire Écologie Fonctionnelle et EnvironnementUniversité de Toulouse, CNRS, Toulouse INP, Université Toulouse 3 – Paul Sabatier (UPS)ToulouseFrance
- UMR EcoFoG, AgroParisTechCirad, CNRS, INRA, Université des Antilles, Université de GuyaneKourouFrance
| | - Frédéric Azémar
- Laboratoire Écologie Fonctionnelle et EnvironnementUniversité de Toulouse, CNRS, Toulouse INP, Université Toulouse 3 – Paul Sabatier (UPS)ToulouseFrance
| | - Piotr Naskrecki
- Museum of Comparative ZoologyHarvard UniversityCambridgeMassachusettsUSA
| | - Maurice Tindo
- Laboratory of Biology and Physiology of Animal Organisms, Faculty of ScienceUniversity of DoualaDoualaCameroon
| | - Vivien Rossi
- Remote Sensing and Forest Ecology Lab, Higher Teacher's Training CollegeMarien Ngouabi UniversityBrazzavilleDemocratic Republic of the Congo
- R U Forests and Societies, CIRADBrazzavilleDemocratic Republic of the Congo
| | - Christian Faucher
- Laboratoire Evolution & Diversité Biologique (EDB UMR 5174) CNRSIRD, Université Toulouse 3ToulouseFrance
| | - Hervé Gryta
- Laboratoire Evolution & Diversité Biologique (EDB UMR 5174) CNRSIRD, Université Toulouse 3ToulouseFrance
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Gotting K, May DS, Sosa-Calvo J, Khadempour L, Francoeur CB, Berasategui A, Thairu MW, Sandstrom S, Carlson CM, Chevrette MG, Pupo MT, Bugni TS, Schultz TR, Johnston JS, Gerardo NM, Currie CR. Genomic diversification of the specialized parasite of the fungus-growing ant symbiosis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2213096119. [PMID: 36508678 PMCID: PMC9907069 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2213096119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2022] [Accepted: 10/20/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Fungi shape the diversity of life. Characterizing the evolution of fungi is critical to understanding symbiotic associations across kingdoms. In this study, we investigate the genomic and metabolomic diversity of the genus Escovopsis, a specialized parasite of fungus-growing ant gardens. Based on 25 high-quality draft genomes, we show that Escovopsis forms a monophyletic group arising from a mycoparasitic fungal ancestor 61.82 million years ago (Mya). Across the evolutionary history of fungus-growing ants, the dates of origin of most clades of Escovopsis correspond to the dates of origin of the fungus-growing ants whose gardens they parasitize. We reveal that genome reduction, determined by both genomic sequencing and flow cytometry, is a consistent feature across the genus Escovopsis, largely occurring in coding regions, specifically in the form of gene loss and reductions in copy numbers of genes. All functional gene categories have reduced copy numbers, but resistance and virulence genes maintain functional diversity. Biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) contribute to phylogenetic differences among Escovopsis spp., and sister taxa in the Hypocreaceae. The phylogenetic patterns of co-diversification among BGCs are similarly exhibited across mass spectrometry analyses of the metabolomes of Escovopsis and their sister taxa. Taken together, our results indicate that Escovopsis spp. evolved unique genomic repertoires to specialize on the fungus-growing ant-microbe symbiosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kirsten Gotting
- Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI53706
- Laboratory of Genetics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI53706
| | - Daniel S. May
- Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI53706
| | - Jeffrey Sosa-Calvo
- Department of Entomology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC20560
| | - Lily Khadempour
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ07102
| | | | | | - Margaret W. Thairu
- Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI53706
| | - Shelby Sandstrom
- Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI53706
| | - Caitlin M. Carlson
- Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI53706
| | - Marc G. Chevrette
- Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI53705
- Department of Plant Pathology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI53705
| | - Mônica T. Pupo
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP14040-903, Brazil
| | - Tim S. Bugni
- Pharmaceutical Sciences Division, School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI53705
| | - Ted R. Schultz
- Department of Entomology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC20560
| | | | | | - Cameron R. Currie
- Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI53706
- David Braley Centre for Antibiotic Discovery, Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
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5
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Bacterial ectosymbionts in cuticular organs chemically protect a beetle during molting stages. THE ISME JOURNAL 2022; 16:2691-2701. [PMID: 36056153 PMCID: PMC9666510 DOI: 10.1038/s41396-022-01311-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2022] [Revised: 08/11/2022] [Accepted: 08/17/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
In invertebrates, the cuticle is the first and major protective barrier against predators and pathogen infections. While immune responses and behavioral defenses are also known to be important for insect protection, the potential of cuticle-associated microbial symbionts to aid in preventing pathogen entry during molting and throughout larval development remains unexplored. Here, we show that bacterial symbionts of the beetle Lagria villosa inhabit unusual dorsal invaginations of the insect cuticle, which remain open to the outer surface and persist throughout larval development. This specialized location enables the release of several symbiont cells and the associated protective compounds during molting. This facilitates ectosymbiont maintenance and extended defense during larval development against antagonistic fungi. One Burkholderia strain, which produces the antifungal compound lagriamide, dominates the community across all life stages, and removal of the community significantly impairs the survival probability of young larvae when exposed to different pathogenic fungi. We localize both the dominant bacterial strain and lagriamide on the surface of eggs, larvae, pupae, and on the inner surface of the molted cuticle (exuvia), supporting extended protection. These results highlight adaptations for effective defense of immature insects by cuticle-associated ectosymbionts, a potentially key advantage for a ground-dwelling insect when confronting pathogenic microbes.
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Bringhurst B, Allert M, Greenwold M, Kellner K, Seal JN. Environments and Hosts Structure the Bacterial Microbiomes of Fungus-Gardening Ants and their Symbiotic Fungus Gardens. MICROBIAL ECOLOGY 2022:10.1007/s00248-022-02138-x. [PMID: 36344828 DOI: 10.1007/s00248-022-02138-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2022] [Accepted: 10/24/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
The fungus gardening-ant system is considered a complex, multi-tiered symbiosis, as it is composed of ants, their fungus, and microorganisms associated with either ants or fungus. We examine the bacterial microbiome of Trachymyrmex septentrionalis and Mycetomoellerius turrifex ants and their symbiotic fungus gardens, using 16S rRNA Illumina sequencing, over a region spanning approximately 350 km (east and central Texas). Typically, microorganisms can be acquired from a parent colony (vertical transmission) or from the environment (horizontal transmission). Because the symbiosis is characterized by co-dispersal of the ants and fungus, elements of both ant and fungus garden microbiome could be characterized by vertical transmission. The goals of this study were to explore how both the ant and fungus garden bacterial microbiome are acquired. The main findings were that different mechanisms appear to explain the structure the microbiomes of ants and their symbiotic fungus gardens. Ant associated microbiomes had a strong host ant signature, which could be indicative of vertical inheritance of the ant associated bacterial microbiome or an unknown mechanism of active uptake or screening. On the other hand, the bacterial microbiome of the fungus garden was more complex in that some bacterial taxa appear to be structured by the ant host species, whereas others by fungal lineage or the environment (geographic region). Thus bacteria in fungus gardens appear to be acquired both horizontally and vertically.
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Affiliation(s)
- Blake Bringhurst
- Department of Biology, University of Texas at Tyler, 3900 University Blvd, Tyler, TX, 75799, USA
| | - Mattea Allert
- Department of Biology, University of Texas at Tyler, 3900 University Blvd, Tyler, TX, 75799, USA
| | - Matthew Greenwold
- Department of Biology, University of Texas at Tyler, 3900 University Blvd, Tyler, TX, 75799, 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.
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7
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Janke RS, Moog S, Weiss B, Kaltenpoth M, Flórez LV. Morphological adaptation for ectosymbiont maintenance and transmission during metamorphosis in Lagria beetles. Front Physiol 2022; 13:979200. [PMID: 36111144 PMCID: PMC9468232 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2022.979200] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2022] [Accepted: 07/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The diversity and success of holometabolous insects is partly driven by metamorphosis, which allows for the exploitation of different niches and decouples growth and tissue differentiation from reproduction. Despite its benefits, metamorphosis comes with the cost of temporal vulnerability during pupation and challenges associated with tissue reorganizations. These rearrangements can also affect the presence, abundance, and localization of beneficial microbes in the host. However, how symbionts are maintained or translocated during metamorphosis and which adaptations are necessary from each partner during this process remains unknown for the vast majority of symbiotic systems. Here, we show that Lagria beetles circumvent the constraints of metamorphosis by maintaining defensive symbionts on the surface in specialized cuticular structures. The symbionts are present in both sexes throughout larval development and during the pupal phase, in line with a protective role during the beetle’s immature stages. By comparing symbiont titer and morphology of the cuticular structures between sexes using qPCR, fluorescence in situ hybridization, and micro-computed tomography, we found that the organs likely play an important role as a symbiont reservoir for transmission to female adults, since symbiont titers and structures are reduced in male pupae. Using symbiont-sized fluorescent beads, we demonstrate transfer from the region of the dorsal symbiont-housing organs to the opening of the reproductive tract of adult females, suggesting that symbiont relocation on the outer surface is possible, even without specialized symbiont adaptations or motility. Our results illustrate a strategy for holometabolous insects to cope with the challenge of symbiont maintenance during metamorphosis via an external route, circumventing problems associated with internal tissue reorganization. Thereby, Lagria beetles keep a tight relationship with their beneficial partners during growth and metamorphosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebekka S. Janke
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany
| | - Safira Moog
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany
| | - Benjamin Weiss
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany
- Department of Insect Symbiosis, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany
| | - Martin Kaltenpoth
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany
- Department of Insect Symbiosis, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany
| | - Laura V. Flórez
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany
- Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Section for Organismal Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- *Correspondence: Laura V. Flórez,
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8
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Li H, Greening C. Termite-engineered microbial communities of termite nest structures: a new dimension to the extended phenotype. FEMS Microbiol Rev 2022; 46:6631553. [PMID: 35790132 PMCID: PMC9779920 DOI: 10.1093/femsre/fuac034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2022] [Accepted: 07/01/2022] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Termites are a prototypical example of the 'extended phenotype' given their ability to shape their environments by constructing complex nesting structures and cultivating fungus gardens. Such engineered structures provide termites with stable, protected habitats, and nutritious food sources, respectively. Recent studies have suggested that these termite-engineered structures harbour Actinobacteria-dominated microbial communities. In this review, we describe the composition, activities, and consequences of microbial communities associated with termite mounds, other nests, and fungus gardens. Culture-dependent and culture-independent studies indicate that these structures each harbour specialized microbial communities distinct from those in termite guts and surrounding soils. Termites select microbial communities in these structures through various means: opportunistic recruitment from surrounding soils; controlling physicochemical properties of nesting structures; excreting hydrogen, methane, and other gases as bacterial energy sources; and pretreating lignocellulose to facilitate fungal cultivation in gardens. These engineered communities potentially benefit termites by producing antimicrobial compounds, facilitating lignocellulose digestion, and enhancing energetic efficiency of the termite 'metaorganism'. Moreover, mound-associated communities have been shown to be globally significant in controlling emissions of methane and enhancing agricultural fertility. Altogether, these considerations suggest that the microbiomes selected by some animals extend much beyond their bodies, providing a new dimension to the 'extended phenotype'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hongjie Li
- Corresponding author. 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. E-mail:
| | - Chris Greening
- Corresponding author. Department of Microbiology, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia. E-mail:
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Feeney MA, Newitt JT, Addington E, Algora-Gallardo L, Allan C, Balis L, Birke AS, Castaño-Espriu L, Charkoudian LK, Devine R, Gayrard D, Hamilton J, Hennrich O, Hoskisson PA, Keith-Baker M, Klein JG, Kruasuwan W, Mark DR, Mast Y, McHugh RE, McLean TC, Mohit E, Munnoch JT, Murray J, Noble K, Otani H, Parra J, Pereira CF, Perry L, Pintor-Escobar L, Pritchard L, Prudence SMM, Russell AH, Schniete JK, Seipke RF, Sélem-Mojica N, Undabarrena A, Vind K, van Wezel GP, Wilkinson B, Worsley SF, Duncan KR, Fernández-Martínez LT, Hutchings MI. ActinoBase: tools and protocols for researchers working on Streptomyces and other filamentous actinobacteria. Microb Genom 2022; 8. [PMID: 35775972 PMCID: PMC9455695 DOI: 10.1099/mgen.0.000824] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Actinobacteria is an ancient phylum of Gram-positive bacteria with a characteristic high GC content to their DNA. The ActinoBase Wiki is focused on the filamentous actinobacteria, such as Streptomyces species, and the techniques and growth conditions used to study them. These organisms are studied because of their complex developmental life cycles and diverse specialised metabolism which produces many of the antibiotics currently used in the clinic. ActinoBase is a community effort that provides valuable and freely accessible resources, including protocols and practical information about filamentous actinobacteria. It is aimed at enabling knowledge exchange between members of the international research community working with these fascinating bacteria. ActinoBase is an anchor platform that underpins worldwide efforts to understand the ecology, biology and metabolic potential of these organisms. There are two key differences that set ActinoBase apart from other Wiki-based platforms: [1] ActinoBase is specifically aimed at researchers working on filamentous actinobacteria and is tailored to help users overcome challenges working with these bacteria and [2] it provides a freely accessible resource with global networking opportunities for researchers with a broad range of experience in this field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Morgan Anne Feeney
- University of Strathclyde, Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, Glasgow, G4 0RE, UK
| | - Jake Terry Newitt
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, John Innes Centre, Norwich, NR4 7UH, UK
| | - Emily Addington
- University of Strathclyde, Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, Glasgow, G4 0RE, UK
| | - Lis Algora-Gallardo
- University of Strathclyde, Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, Glasgow, G4 0RE, UK
| | - Craig Allan
- Swansea University Institute of Life Science, College of Medicine, Swansea, Wales, UK
| | - Lucas Balis
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, John Innes Centre, Norwich, NR4 7UH, UK
| | - Anna S Birke
- University of Strathclyde, Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, Glasgow, G4 0RE, UK
| | - Laia Castaño-Espriu
- University of Strathclyde, Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, Glasgow, G4 0RE, UK
| | | | - Rebecca Devine
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, John Innes Centre, Norwich, NR4 7UH, UK
| | - Damien Gayrard
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, John Innes Centre, Norwich, NR4 7UH, UK
| | - Jacob Hamilton
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, John Innes Centre, Norwich, NR4 7UH, UK
| | - Oliver Hennrich
- Leibniz Institute DSMZ - German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures GmbH Inhoffenstraße 7B, 38124 Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Paul A Hoskisson
- University of Strathclyde, Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, Glasgow, G4 0RE, UK
| | - Molly Keith-Baker
- University of Strathclyde, Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, Glasgow, G4 0RE, UK
| | | | - Worarat Kruasuwan
- Division of Bioinformatics and Data Management for Research, Research Group and Research Network Division, Research Department, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - David R Mark
- University of Strathclyde, Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, Glasgow, G4 0RE, UK
| | - Yvonne Mast
- Leibniz Institute DSMZ - German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures GmbH Inhoffenstraße 7B, 38124 Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Rebecca E McHugh
- University of Strathclyde, Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, Glasgow, G4 0RE, UK
| | - Thomas C McLean
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, John Innes Centre, Norwich, NR4 7UH, UK
| | - Elmira Mohit
- University of Strathclyde, Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, Glasgow, G4 0RE, UK
| | - John T Munnoch
- University of Strathclyde, Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, Glasgow, G4 0RE, UK
| | - Jordan Murray
- Department of Physics, SUPA, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, G4 0NG, UK
| | - Katie Noble
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, John Innes Centre, Norwich, NR4 7UH, UK
| | - Hiroshi Otani
- US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.,Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Jonathan Parra
- University of Strathclyde, Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, Glasgow, G4 0RE, UK
| | - Camila F Pereira
- Department of Insect Symbiosis, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Hans-Knöll-Straße 8, 07745 Jena, Germany
| | - Louisa Perry
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, John Innes Centre, Norwich, NR4 7UH, UK
| | | | - Leighton Pritchard
- University of Strathclyde, Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, Glasgow, G4 0RE, UK
| | - Samuel M M Prudence
- School of Biological and Behavioral Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS, UK
| | | | - Jana K Schniete
- Biology Department, Edge Hill University, St Helens Road, Ormskirk, L39 4QP, UK
| | - Ryan F Seipke
- Astbury Centre for Structural Molecular Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK.,Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK
| | - Nelly Sélem-Mojica
- Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Centro de Ciencias Matemáticas, en Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico
| | - Agustina Undabarrena
- Departamento de Química & Centro de Biotecnología Daniel Alkalay Lowitt, Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, Laboratorio de Microbiología Molecular y Biotecnología Ambiental, Valparaíso, 2340000, Chile
| | - Kristiina Vind
- Host-Microbe Interactomics Group, Wageningen University, 6708 WD Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Gilles P van Wezel
- Microbial Biotechnology, Institute of Biology, Leiden University, Rapenburg, The Netherlands
| | - Barrie Wilkinson
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, John Innes Centre, Norwich, NR4 7UH, UK
| | - Sarah F Worsley
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK
| | - Katherine R Duncan
- University of Strathclyde, Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, Glasgow, G4 0RE, UK
| | | | - Matthew I Hutchings
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, John Innes Centre, Norwich, NR4 7UH, UK
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10
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Goes AC, Kooij PW, Culot L, Bueno OC, Rodrigues A. Distinct and enhanced hygienic responses of a leaf-cutting ant toward repeated fungi exposures. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e9112. [PMID: 35866016 PMCID: PMC9288931 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2021] [Revised: 06/06/2022] [Accepted: 06/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Leaf-cutting ants and their fungal crops are a textbook example of a long-term obligatory mutualism. Many microbes continuously enter their nest containing the fungal cultivars, destabilizing the symbiosis and, in some cases, outcompeting the mutualistic partners. Preferably, the ant workers should distinguish between different microorganisms to respond according to their threat level and recurrence in the colony. To address these assumptions, we investigated how workers of Atta sexdens sanitize their fungal crop toward five different fungi commonly isolated from the fungus gardens: Escovopsis sp., Fusarium oxysporum, Metarhizium anisopliae, Trichoderma spirale, and Syncephalastrum sp. Also, to investigate the plasticity of these responses toward recurrences of these fungi, we exposed the colonies with each fungus three times fourteen days apart. As expected, intensities in sanitization differed according to the fungal species. Ants significantly groom their fungal crop more toward F. oxysporum, M. anisopliae, and Syncephalastrum sp. than toward Escovopsis sp. and T. spirale. Weeding, self-, and allogrooming were observed in less frequency than fungus grooming in all cases. Moreover, we detected a significant increase in the overall responses after repeated exposures for each fungus, except for Escovopsis sp. Our results indicate that A. sexdens workers are able to distinguish between different fungi and apply distinct responses to remove these from the fungus gardens. Our findings also suggest that successive exposures to the same antagonist increase hygiene, indicating plasticity of ant colonies' defenses to previously encountered pathogens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aryel C. Goes
- Department of General and Applied BiologySão Paulo State University (UNESP)Rio ClaroBrazil
| | - Pepijn W. Kooij
- Department of General and Applied BiologySão Paulo State University (UNESP)Rio ClaroBrazil
| | - Laurence Culot
- Department of BiodiversitySão Paulo State University (UNESP)Rio ClaroBrazil
| | - Odair C. Bueno
- Department of General and Applied BiologySão Paulo State University (UNESP)Rio ClaroBrazil
| | - Andre Rodrigues
- Department of General and Applied BiologySão Paulo State University (UNESP)Rio ClaroBrazil
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11
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Fronk DC, Sachs JL. Symbiotic organs: the nexus of host-microbe evolution. Trends Ecol Evol 2022; 37:599-610. [PMID: 35393155 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2022.02.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2021] [Revised: 02/14/2022] [Accepted: 02/28/2022] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Diverse plants and animals have evolved specialized structures to filter and house beneficial microbes. These symbiotic organs form crucial points of exchange between host and symbiont, are often shaped by both partners, and exhibit features that facilitate a suite of microbial services. While symbiotic organs exhibit varied function, morphology, and developmental plasticity, they share core features linked to the evolutionary maintenance of beneficial symbiosis. Moreover, these organs can have a significant role in altering the demographic forces that shape microbial genomes, driving population bottlenecks and horizontal gene transfer (HGT). To advance our understanding of these 'joint phenotypes' across varied systems, future research must consider the emergent forces that can shape symbiotic organs, including fitness feedbacks and conflicts between interacting genomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- David C Fronk
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA
| | - Joel L Sachs
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA; Department of Botany and Plant Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA; Institute for Integrative Genome Biology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
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12
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Cui P, Kong K, Yao Y, Huang Z, Shi S, Liu P, Huang Y, Abbas N, Yu L, Zhang Y. Community composition, bacterial symbionts, antibacterial and antioxidant activities of honeybee-associated fungi. BMC Microbiol 2022; 22:168. [PMID: 35761187 PMCID: PMC9235140 DOI: 10.1186/s12866-022-02580-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2022] [Accepted: 06/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Fungi associated with insects represent one potentially rich source for the discovery of novel metabolites. However, a comprehensive understanding of the fungal communities of Apis mellifera ligustica remains elusive. Results Here, we investigated the phylogenetic diversity and community composition of honeybee-associated fungi using combination of culture-dependent and culture-independent approaches. A total of forty-five fungi were isolated and purified from the Apis mellifera ligustica, royal jelly, and honeycomb, which belonged to four classes and eleven different genera. Furthermore, 28 bacterial 16S rRNA gene sequences were obtained by PCR from the fungal metagenome. High-throughput sequencing analyses revealed that the fungal communities were more diverse, a total of 62 fungal genera were detected in the honeybee gut by culture-independent method, whereas only 4 genera were isolated by culture-dependent method. Similarly, 247 fungal genera were detected in the honeycomb, whereas only 4 genera were isolated. In addition, we assessed the antibacterial and antioxidant activities of fungal isolates. Most fungal crude extracts obtained from the cultivation supernatant exhibited antioxidant activities. Only two fungal crude extracts displayed moderate activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Chemical analysis of Chaetomium subaffine MFFC22 led to the discovery of three known compounds, including cochliodinol (1), emodin (2), chrysophanol (3). Among them, cochliodinol (1) showed intense DPPH radical scavenging activity with the 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 3.06 μg/mL, which was comparable to that of the positive ascorbic acid (IC50 = 2.25 μg/mL). Compound 2 displayed weak inhibitory activities against Micrococcus tetragenus and S. aureus. Conclusions This research provided a fundamental clue for the complex interactions among honeybees, fungi, bacterial symbionts, and the effects on the honeybee. Furthermore, the diversity of honeybee-associated fungi had great potential in finding the resource of new species and antioxidants. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12866-022-02580-4.
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13
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Hansen KA, Kim RR, Lawton ES, Tran J, Lewis SK, Deol AS, Van Arnam EB. Bacterial Associates of a Desert Specialist Fungus-Growing Ant Antagonize Competitors with a Nocamycin Analog. ACS Chem Biol 2022; 17:1824-1830. [PMID: 35730734 DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.2c00187] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Fungus-growing ants are defended by antibiotic-producing bacterial symbionts in the genus Pseudonocardia. Nutrients provisioned by the ants support these symbionts but also invite colonization and competition from other bacteria. As an arena for chemically mediated bacterial competition, this niche offers a window into ecological antibiotic function with well-defined competing organisms. From multiple colonies of the desert specialist ant Trachymyrmex smithi, we isolated Amycolatopsis bacteria that inhibit the growth of Pseudonocardia symbionts under laboratory conditions. Using bioassay-guided fractionation, we discovered a novel analog of the antibiotic nocamycin that is responsible for this antagonism. We identified the biosynthetic gene cluster for this antibiotic, which has a suite of oxidative enzymes consistent with this molecule's more extensive oxidative tailoring relative to similar tetramic acid antibiotics. High genetic similarity to globally distributed soil Amycolatopsis isolates suggest that this ant-derived Amycolatopsis strain may be an opportunistic soil strain whose antibiotic production allows for competition in this specialized niche. This nocamycin analog adds to the catalog of novel bioactive molecules isolated from bacterial associates of fungus-growing ants, and its activity against ant symbionts represents, to our knowledge, the first putative ecological function for the widely distributed enoyl tetramic acid family of antibiotics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherine A Hansen
- Keck Science Department of Claremont McKenna, Pitzer, and Scripps Colleges, Claremont, California 91711, United States
| | - Rose R Kim
- Keck Science Department of Claremont McKenna, Pitzer, and Scripps Colleges, Claremont, California 91711, United States
| | - Elisabeth S Lawton
- Keck Science Department of Claremont McKenna, Pitzer, and Scripps Colleges, Claremont, California 91711, United States
| | - Janet Tran
- Keck Science Department of Claremont McKenna, Pitzer, and Scripps Colleges, Claremont, California 91711, United States
| | - Stephanie K Lewis
- Keck Science Department of Claremont McKenna, Pitzer, and Scripps Colleges, Claremont, California 91711, United States
| | - Arjan S Deol
- Keck Science Department of Claremont McKenna, Pitzer, and Scripps Colleges, Claremont, California 91711, United States
| | - Ethan B Van Arnam
- Keck Science Department of Claremont McKenna, Pitzer, and Scripps Colleges, Claremont, California 91711, United States
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14
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Giraldo C, Chaves-López C, Tofalo R, Angrisani R, Rodrigues A, Montoya-Lerma J. Yeasts associated with the worker caste of the leaf-cutting ant Atta cephalotes under experimental conditions in Colombia. Arch Microbiol 2022; 204:284. [PMID: 35476294 DOI: 10.1007/s00203-022-02811-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2021] [Accepted: 02/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Yeasts isolated from the worker caste of the Colombian leaf-cutting ant, Atta cephalotes (Hymenoptera: Myrmicinae) were cultured and identified by molecular methods. Abundant, persistent, and omnipresent species were classified as "prevalent". Experimental data were compared with information gathered from published reports on the yeast species composition in other leaf-cutting ant species. Diversity analysis was conducted using diversity values (q0, q1, and q2) to compare the richness and abundance of yeasts present in different leaf-cutting ant species. Clustering analysis was carried out to assess the similarity of yeast community according to ant species. The yeast species composition was highly variable among the ant species. A. laevigata and A. capiguara showed the highest degree of similarity and differed from the group composed by A. cephalotes, A. sexdens, A. sexdens rubropilosa, and A. texana. The isolation of dominant yeasts in different ant castes within the different compartments of a colony strongly suggests that the identified microorganisms are not transient but are native to the soil surrounding ant colonies and the substrates used by the ants to grow their fungal cultivars. It is apparent that the ant-fungus mutualism does not operate in an environment devoid of other microbes, but rather that the association must be seen within the context of a background of other microorganisms, particularly the dominant yeasts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carolina Giraldo
- Departamento de Biología, Universidad del Valle, A.A. 25360, Cali, Colombia.
| | - Clemencia Chaves-López
- Facoltá di BioScience e Tecnologie Agro-Alimentari e Ambientali, Universitá Degli Studi di Teramo, Via R. Balzarini, 164100, Teramo, Italy
| | - Rosanna Tofalo
- Facoltá di BioScience e Tecnologie Agro-Alimentari e Ambientali, Universitá Degli Studi di Teramo, Via R. Balzarini, 164100, Teramo, Italy
| | - Roberto Angrisani
- NutriPlant S.R.L. Impianto Chimico per la Produzione Di Specialità Fertilizzanti per Agricoltura in Gestione Biologica e Convenzionale, S. S. 93 Km 46,400, 85024, Lavello, PZ, Italy
| | - Andre Rodrigues
- Department of General and Applied Biology, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Rio Claro, SP, Brazil
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15
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Schmidt S, Kildgaard S, Guo H, Beemelmanns C, Poulsen M. The chemical ecology of the fungus-farming termite symbiosis. Nat Prod Rep 2022; 39:231-248. [PMID: 34879123 PMCID: PMC8865390 DOI: 10.1039/d1np00022e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2021] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
Covering: September 1972 to December 2020Explorations of complex symbioses have often elucidated a plethora of previously undescribed chemical compounds that may serve ecological functions in signalling, communication or defence. A case in point is the subfamily of termites that cultivate a fungus as their primary food source and maintain complex bacterial communities, from which a series of novel compound discoveries have been made. Here, we summarise the origins and types of 375 compounds that have been discovered from the symbiosis over the past four decades and discuss the potential for synergistic actions between compounds within the complex chemical mixtures in which they exist. We go on to highlight how vastly underexplored the diversity and geographic distribution of the symbiosis is, which leaves ample potential for natural product discovery of compounds of both ecological and medical importance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suzanne Schmidt
- Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
| | - Sara Kildgaard
- Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
| | - Huijuan Guo
- Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology e.V., Hans-Knöll-Institute (HKI), Beutenbergstraße 11a, 07745 Jena, Germany
| | - Christine Beemelmanns
- Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology e.V., Hans-Knöll-Institute (HKI), Beutenbergstraße 11a, 07745 Jena, Germany
| | - Michael Poulsen
- Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
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16
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Santos-Aberturas J, Vior NM. Beyond Soil-Dwelling Actinobacteria: Fantastic Antibiotics and Where to Find Them. Antibiotics (Basel) 2022; 11:195. [PMID: 35203798 PMCID: PMC8868522 DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics11020195] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2021] [Revised: 01/27/2022] [Accepted: 01/29/2022] [Indexed: 12/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Bacterial secondary metabolites represent an invaluable source of bioactive molecules for the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries. Although screening campaigns for the discovery of new compounds have traditionally been strongly biased towards the study of soil-dwelling Actinobacteria, the current antibiotic resistance and discovery crisis has brought a considerable amount of attention to the study of previously neglected bacterial sources of secondary metabolites. The development and application of new screening, sequencing, genetic manipulation, cultivation and bioinformatic techniques have revealed several other groups of bacteria as producers of striking chemical novelty. Biosynthetic machineries evolved from independent taxonomic origins and under completely different ecological requirements and selective pressures are responsible for these structural innovations. In this review, we summarize the most important discoveries related to secondary metabolites from alternative bacterial sources, trying to provide the reader with a broad perspective on how technical novelties have facilitated the access to the bacterial metabolic dark matter.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Natalia M. Vior
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, John Innes Centre, Norwich NR7 4UH, UK
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17
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Goettler W, Kaltenpoth M, McDonald S, Strohm E. Comparative Morphology of the Symbiont Cultivation Glands in the Antennae of Female Digger Wasps of the Genus Philanthus (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae). Front Physiol 2022; 13:815494. [PMID: 35153837 PMCID: PMC8826713 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2022.815494] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2021] [Accepted: 01/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Females of the solitary digger wasp tribe Philanthini, called the beewolves (Hymenoptera, Crabronidae), cultivate strains of symbiotic bacteria that belong to the genus Streptomyces in unique and highly specialized glands in their antennae. The glands consist of large reservoirs that are surrounded by numerous gland cell complexes (class III). The symbionts are cultivated inside the reservoirs and are probably provisioned with nutrients secreted from the surrounding glands and/or sequestered from the hemolymph. The wasp female delivers the bacteria into the subterranean brood cell prior to oviposition. Fully grown larvae take up the bacteria and apply them to their cocoon. There the bacteria produce several antibiotics that protect the wasp offspring against fungus infestation. Hitherto Streptomyces bacteria were detected in the antennae of 38 species of the Philanthini. However, a detailed morphological analysis of the antennal glands is only available for a few species. In order to shed light on the evolutionary history of the association between beewolf wasps and bacteria, we investigated the morphology of the antennal glands of another 14 Philanthus species from the Palearctic, Paleotropic, and Nearctic. We generated 3D-models of the glands based on serial semithin sections and/or micro-CT (μCT). Despite broad similarities in number and structure of antennal glands, the results revealed interspecific differences with regard to overall shape, complexity, and relative size of the reservoirs as well as the number of the surrounding gland cell units. Mapping the morphology of all species studied so far on the phylogeny (that parallels geographical distribution) revealed that related species share similarities in gland morphology, but there are notable differences between lineages. In particular, compared to the North American species the European and African species possess more complex gland structures with a higher number of gland cells. We discuss morphological, ecological, and physiological aspects and provide scenarios for the evolution of the antennal glands of the Philanthini as symbiont cultivation organs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wolfgang Goettler
- Department of Zoology, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Martin Kaltenpoth
- Department of Zoology, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
- Department of Insect Symbiosis, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany
| | - Samuel McDonald
- Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, Switzerland
| | - Erhard Strohm
- Department of Zoology, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
- *Correspondence: Erhard Strohm,
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18
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Symbiont-Mediated Protection of Acromyrmex Leaf-Cutter Ants from the Entomopathogenic Fungus Metarhizium anisopliae. mBio 2021; 12:e0188521. [PMID: 34933458 PMCID: PMC8689564 DOI: 10.1128/mbio.01885-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Many fungus-growing ants engage in a defensive symbiosis with antibiotic-producing ectosymbiotic bacteria in the genus Pseudonocardia, which help protect the ants' fungal mutualist from a specialized mycoparasite, Escovopsis. Here, using germfree ant rearing and experimental pathogen infection treatments, we evaluate if Acromyrmex ants derive higher immunity to the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae from their Pseudonocardia symbionts. We further examine the ecological dynamics and defensive capacities of Pseudonocardia against M. anisopliae across seven different Acromyrmex species by controlling Pseudonocardia acquisition using ant-nonnative Pseudonocardia switches, in vitro challenges, and in situ mass spectrometry imaging (MSI). We show that Pseudonocardia protects the ants against M. anisopliae across different Acromyrmex species and appears to afford higher protection than metapleural gland (MG) secretions. Although Acromyrmex echinatior ants with nonnative Pseudonocardia symbionts receive protection from M. anisopliae regardless of the strain acquired compared with Pseudonocardia-free conditions, we find significant variation in the degree of protection conferred by different Pseudonocardia strains. Additionally, when ants were reared in Pseudonocardia-free conditions, some species exhibit more susceptibility to M. anisopliae than others, indicating that some ant species depend more on defensive symbionts than others. In vitro challenge experiments indicate that Pseudonocardia reduces Metarhizium conidiospore germination area. Our chemometric analysis using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI-MSI) reveals that Pseudonocardia-carrying ants produce more chemical signals than Pseudonocardia-free treatments, indicating that Pseudonocardia produces bioactive metabolites on the Acromyrmex cuticle. Our results indicate that Pseudonocardia can serve as a dual-purpose defensive symbiont, conferring increased immunity for both the obligate fungal mutualist and the ants themselves. IMPORTANCE In some plants and animals, beneficial microbes mediate host immune response against pathogens, including by serving as defensive symbionts that produce antimicrobial compounds. Defensive symbionts are known in several insects, including some leaf-cutter ants where antifungal-producing Actinobacteria help protect the fungal mutualist of the ants from specialized mycoparasites. In many defensive symbioses, the extent and specificity of defensive benefits received by the host are poorly understood. Here, using "aposymbiotic" rearing, symbiont switching experiments, and imaging mass spectrometry, we explore the ecological and chemical dynamics of the model defensive symbiosis between Acromyrmex ants and their defensive symbiotic bacterium Pseudonocardia. We show that the defensive symbiont not only protects the fungal crop of Acromyrmex but also provides protection from fungal pathogens that infect the ant workers themselves. Furthermore, we reveal that the increased immunity to pathogen infection differs among strains of defensive symbionts and that the degree of reliance on a defensive symbiont for protection varies across congeneric ant species. Taken together, our results suggest that Acromyrmex-associated Pseudonocardia have evolved broad antimicrobial defenses that promote strong immunity to diverse fungal pathogens within the ancient fungus-growing ant-microbe symbiosis.
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19
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do Nascimento MO, Teles Tenório AC, Sarmento RA, Melo RDCC, Della Lucia TMC, Dias Amaral K, de Souza DJ. Soil actinobacteria inhibit antagonistic fungi of leafcutter ant colonies. J Basic Microbiol 2021; 62:63-73. [PMID: 34850414 DOI: 10.1002/jobm.202100476] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2021] [Revised: 11/11/2021] [Accepted: 11/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Founder females of the leaf-cutting ant species Atta sexdens experience high mortality during the founding and establishment of their colonies. The foundation site is crucial for the success of a new colony. In this study, we isolated and identified actinobacteria from fungus garden chambers of A. sexdens colony growth in soils from (1) forested areas without leafcutter ant nests and (2) open ground areas close to leafcutter ant nests. The inhibitory effect of these isolates on pathogenic fungi and the mutualistic fungus cultivated by leafcutter ants was evaluated. The 16S rRNA gene sequences were employed to identify nine selected actinobacteria species found in the soil: Streptomyces (6), Nocardia (2), and Kitasatospora (1). One Streptomyces and one Kitasatospora isolate inhibited all the tested fungi. Since there is no evidence of actinobacteria cultivation in the workers' cuticle of the Atta genus, our results corroborate the hypothesis that these workers may establish temporary adaptive symbiosis with soil microorganisms that produce antibiotic substances, living in some parts of their nest, or even inside their bodies. Pathogenic fungi are a risk factor that can be controlled by actinobacteria metabolites from soils, with minimal energy cost to the colony.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariela O do Nascimento
- Laboratory of Symbiosis: Insects-Microorganisms-Graduate Program in Plant Production, Federal University of Tocantins, Gurupi, Tocantins, Brazil
| | - Amanda C Teles Tenório
- Laboratory of Symbiosis: Insects-Microorganisms-Graduate Program in Plant Production, Federal University of Tocantins, Gurupi, Tocantins, Brazil
| | - Renato A Sarmento
- Laboratory of Symbiosis: Insects-Microorganisms-Graduate Program in Plant Production, Federal University of Tocantins, Gurupi, Tocantins, Brazil
| | - Rita de Cássia C Melo
- Department of Microbiology, Laboratory of Mycorrhizal Associations, Federal University of Viçosa, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | | | - Karina Dias Amaral
- Entomology Department, Leafcutter Ants Laboratory, Federal University of Viçosa, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Danival J de Souza
- Laboratory of Symbiosis: Insects-Microorganisms-Graduate Program in Plant Production, Federal University of Tocantins, Gurupi, Tocantins, Brazil
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20
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Pu Y, Naikatini A, Pérez‐Escobar OA, Silber M, Renner SS, Chomicki G. Genome-wide transcriptome signatures of ant-farmed Squamellaria epiphytes reveal key functions in a unique symbiosis. Ecol Evol 2021; 11:15882-15895. [PMID: 34824797 PMCID: PMC8601933 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8258] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2020] [Revised: 10/02/2021] [Accepted: 10/07/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Farming of fungi by ants, termites, or beetles has led to ecologically successful societies fueled by industrial-scale food production. Another type of obligate insect agriculture in Fiji involves the symbiosis between the ant Philidris nagasau and epiphytes in the genus Squamellaria (Rubiaceae) that the ants fertilize, defend, harvest, and depend on for nesting. All farmed Squamellaria form tubers (domatia) with preformed entrance holes and complex cavity networks occupied by P. nagasau. The inner surface of the domatia consists of smooth-surfaced walls where the ants nest and rear their brood, and warty-surfaced walls where they fertilize their crop by defecation. Here, we use RNA sequencing to identify gene expression patterns associated with the smooth versus warty wall types. Since wall differentiation occurred in the most recent common ancestor of all farmed species of Squamellaria, our study also identifies genetic pathways co-opted following the emergence of agriculture. Warty-surfaced walls show many upregulated genes linked to auxin transport, root development, and nitrogen transport consistent with their root-like function; their defense-related genes are also upregulated, probably to protect these permeable areas from pathogen entry. In smooth-surfaced walls, genes functioning in suberin and wax biosynthesis are upregulated, contributing to the formation of an impermeable ant-nesting area in the domatium. This study throws light on a number of functional characteristics of plant farming by ants and illustrates the power of genomic studies of symbiosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuanshu Pu
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle‐Jena‐LeipzigLeipzigGermany
| | - Alivereti Naikatini
- South Pacific Regional HerbariumInstitute of Applied SciencesThe University of the South PacificSuvaFiji
| | | | - Martina Silber
- Systematic Botany and MycologyDepartment of BiologyUniversity of Munich (LMU)MunichGermany
| | | | - Guillaume Chomicki
- Ecology and Evolutionary BiologySchool of BiosciencesUniversity of SheffieldSheffieldUK
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21
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Bizarria R, Pagnocca FC, Rodrigues A. Yeasts in the attine ant-fungus mutualism: Diversity, functional roles, and putative biotechnological applications. Yeast 2021; 39:25-39. [PMID: 34473375 DOI: 10.1002/yea.3667] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2021] [Revised: 07/20/2021] [Accepted: 08/30/2021] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Insects interact with a wide variety of yeasts, often providing a suitable substrate for their growth. Some yeast-insect interactions are tractable models for understanding the relationships between the symbionts. Attine ants are prominent insects in the Neotropics and have performed an ancient fungiculture of mutualistic basidiomycete fungi for more than 55-65 million years. Yeasts gain access to this sophisticated mutualism, prompting diversity, ecological, and biotechnological studies in this environment. We review half a century research in this field, surveying for recurrent yeast taxa and their putative ecological roles in this environment. We found that previous studies mainly covered the yeast diversity from a small fraction of attine ants, being Saccharomycetales, Tremellales, and Trichosporonales as the most frequent yeast or yeast-like orders found. Apiotrichum, Aureobasidium, Candida, Cutaneotrichosporon, Debaryomyces, Meyerozyma, Papiliotrema, Rhodotorula, Trichomonascus, and Trichosporon are the most frequent recovered genera. On the other hand, studies of yeasts' ecological roles on attine ant-fungus mutualism only tapped the tip of the iceberg. Previous established hypotheses in the literature cover the production of lignocellulosic enzymes, chemical detoxification, and fungus garden protection. Some of these roles have parallels in biotechnological processes. In conclusion, the attine ant environment has a hidden potential for studying yeast biodiversity, ecology, and biotechnology, which has been particularly unexplored considering the vast diversity of fungus-growing ants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rodolfo Bizarria
- 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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22
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Riahi HS, Heidarieh P, Fatahi-Bafghi M. Genus Pseudonocardia: What we know about its biological properties, abilities and current application in biotechnology. J Appl Microbiol 2021; 132:890-906. [PMID: 34469043 DOI: 10.1111/jam.15271] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2020] [Revised: 07/08/2021] [Accepted: 08/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
The genus Pseudonocardia belongs to a group of Actinomycetes, and is a member of the family Pseudonocardiacea. The members of this genus are aerobic, Gram-positive, non-motile bacteria that are commonly found in soil, plant and environment. Although this genus has a low clinical significance; however, it has an important role in biotechnology due to the production of secondary metabolites, some of which have anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and anti-tumour effects. The use of phenotypic tests, such as gelatinase activity, starch hydrolysis, catalase and oxidase tests, as well as molecular methods, such as polymerase chain reaction, are necessary for Pseudonocardia identification at the genus and species levels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hanieh Sadat Riahi
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran
| | - Parvin Heidarieh
- Department of Bacteriology and Virology, School of Medicine, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran
| | - Mehdi Fatahi-Bafghi
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran
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23
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Burkholderia from Fungus Gardens of Fungus-Growing Ants Produces Antifungals That Inhibit the Specialized Parasite Escovopsis. Appl Environ Microbiol 2021; 87:e0017821. [PMID: 33962985 DOI: 10.1128/aem.00178-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Within animal-associated microbiomes, the functional roles of specific microbial taxa are often uncharacterized. Here, we use the fungus-growing ant system, a model for microbial symbiosis, to determine the potential defensive roles of key bacterial taxa present in the ants' fungus gardens. Fungus gardens serve as an external digestive system for the ants, with mutualistic fungi in the genus Leucoagaricus converting the plant substrate into energy for the ants. The fungus garden is host to specialized parasitic fungi in the genus Escovopsis. Here, we examine the potential role of Burkholderia spp. that occur within ant fungus gardens in inhibiting Escovopsis. We isolated members of the bacterial genera Burkholderia and Paraburkholderia from 50% of the 52 colonies sampled, indicating that members of the family Burkholderiaceae are common inhabitants in the fungus gardens of a diverse range of fungus-growing ant genera. Using antimicrobial inhibition bioassays, we found that 28 out of 32 isolates inhibited at least one Escovopsis strain with a zone of inhibition greater than 1 cm. Genomic assessment of fungus garden-associated Burkholderiaceae indicated that isolates with strong inhibition all belonged to the genus Burkholderia and contained biosynthetic gene clusters that encoded the production of two antifungals: burkholdine1213 and pyrrolnitrin. Organic extracts of cultured isolates confirmed that these compounds are responsible for antifungal activities that inhibit Escovopsis but, at equivalent concentrations, not Leucoagaricus spp. Overall, these new findings, combined with previous evidence, suggest that members of the fungus garden microbiome play an important role in maintaining the health and function of fungus-growing ant colonies. IMPORTANCE Many organisms partner with microbes to defend themselves against parasites and pathogens. Fungus-growing ants must protect Leucoagaricus spp., the fungal mutualist that provides sustenance for the ants, from a specialized fungal parasite, Escovopsis. The ants take multiple approaches, including weeding their fungus gardens to remove Escovopsis spores, as well as harboring Pseudonocardia spp., bacteria that produce antifungals that inhibit Escovopsis. In addition, a genus of bacteria commonly found in fungus gardens, Burkholderia, is known to produce secondary metabolites that inhibit Escovopsis spp. In this study, we isolated Burkholderia spp. from fungus-growing ants, assessed the isolates' ability to inhibit Escovopsis spp., and identified two compounds responsible for inhibition. Our findings suggest that Burkholderia spp. are often found in fungus gardens, adding another possible mechanism within the fungus-growing ant system to suppress the growth of the specialized parasite Escovopsis.
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24
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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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25
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Schrader L, Pan H, Bollazzi M, Schiøtt M, Larabee FJ, Bi X, Deng Y, Zhang G, Boomsma JJ, Rabeling C. Relaxed selection underlies genome erosion in socially parasitic ant species. Nat Commun 2021; 12:2918. [PMID: 34006882 PMCID: PMC8131649 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-23178-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2020] [Accepted: 04/06/2021] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Inquiline ants are highly specialized and obligate social parasites that infiltrate and exploit colonies of closely related species. They have evolved many times convergently, are often evolutionarily young lineages, and are almost invariably rare. Focusing on the leaf-cutting ant genus Acromyrmex, we compared genomes of three inquiline social parasites with their free-living, closely-related hosts. The social parasite genomes show distinct signatures of erosion compared to the host lineages, as a consequence of relaxed selective constraints on traits associated with cooperative ant colony life and of inquilines having very small effective population sizes. We find parallel gene losses, particularly in olfactory receptors, consistent with inquiline species having highly reduced social behavioral repertoires. Many of the genomic changes that we uncover resemble those observed in the genomes of obligate non-social parasites and intracellular endosymbionts that branched off into highly specialized, host-dependent niches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lukas Schrader
- Centre for Social Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
- Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.
| | | | - Martin Bollazzi
- Entomología, Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Morten Schiøtt
- Centre for Social Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Fredrick J Larabee
- Department of Entomology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA
| | | | | | - Guojie Zhang
- Centre for Social Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
| | - Jacobus J Boomsma
- Centre for Social Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
| | - Christian Rabeling
- Department of Biology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA.
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA.
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26
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Goodrich-Blair H. Interactions of host-associated multispecies bacterial communities. Periodontol 2000 2021; 86:14-31. [PMID: 33690897 DOI: 10.1111/prd.12360] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
The oral microbiome comprises microbial communities colonizing biotic (epithelia, mucosa) and abiotic (enamel) surfaces. Different communities are associated with health (eg, immune development, pathogen resistance) and disease (eg, tooth loss and periodontal disease). Like any other host-associated microbiome, colonization and persistence of both beneficial and dysbiotic oral microbiomes are dictated by successful utilization of available nutrients and defense against host and competitor assaults. This chapter will explore these general features of microbe-host interactions through the lens of symbiotic (mutualistic and antagonistic/pathogenic) associations with nonmammalian animals. Investigations in such systems across a broad taxonomic range have revealed conserved mechanisms and processes that underlie the complex associations among microbes and between microbes and hosts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heidi Goodrich-Blair
- Department of Microbiology, University of Tennessee-Knoxville, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
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27
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Waglechner N, Culp EJ, Wright GD. Ancient Antibiotics, Ancient Resistance. EcoSal Plus 2021; 9:eESP-0027-2020. [PMID: 33734062 PMCID: PMC11163840 DOI: 10.1128/ecosalplus.esp-0027-2020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2020] [Accepted: 01/26/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
As the spread of antibiotic resistance threatens our ability to treat infections, avoiding the return of a preantibiotic era requires the discovery of new drugs. While therapeutic use of antibiotics followed by the inevitable selection of resistance is a modern phenomenon, these molecules and the genetic determinants of resistance were in use by environmental microbes long before humans discovered them. In this review, we discuss evidence that antibiotics and resistance were present in the environment before anthropogenic use, describing techniques including direct sampling of ancient DNA and phylogenetic analyses that are used to reconstruct the past. We also pay special attention to the ecological and evolutionary forces that have shaped the natural history of antibiotic biosynthesis, including a discussion of competitive versus signaling roles for antibiotics, proto-resistance, and substrate promiscuity of biosynthetic and resistance enzymes. Finally, by applying an evolutionary lens, we describe concepts governing the origins and evolution of biosynthetic gene clusters and cluster-associated resistance determinants. These insights into microbes' use of antibiotics in nature, a game they have been playing for millennia, can provide inspiration for discovery technologies and management strategies to combat the growing resistance crisis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas Waglechner
- M.G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research, Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, David Braley Centre for Antibiotic Discovery, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4K1, Canada
| | - Elizabeth J. Culp
- M.G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research, Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, David Braley Centre for Antibiotic Discovery, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4K1, Canada
| | - Gerard D. Wright
- M.G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research, Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, David Braley Centre for Antibiotic Discovery, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4K1, Canada
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28
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Grubbs KJ, May DS, Sardina JA, Dermenjian RK, Wyche TP, Pinto-Tomás AA, Clardy J, Currie CR. Pollen Streptomyces Produce Antibiotic That Inhibits the Honey Bee Pathogen Paenibacillus larvae. Front Microbiol 2021; 12:632637. [PMID: 33613504 PMCID: PMC7889971 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.632637] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2020] [Accepted: 01/13/2021] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Humans use natural products to treat disease; similarly, some insects use natural products produced by Actinobacteria to combat infectious pathogens. Honey bees, Apis mellifera, are ecologically and economically important for their critical role as plant pollinators and are host to diverse and potentially virulent pathogens that threaten hive health. Here, we provide evidence that Actinobacteria that can suppress pathogenic microbes are associated with A. mellifera. We show through culture-dependent approaches that Actinobacteria in the genus Streptomyces are commonly isolated from foraging bees, and especially common in pollen stores. One strain, isolated from pollen stores, exhibited pronounced inhibitory activity against Paenibacillus larvae, the causative agent of American foulbrood. Bioassay-guided HPLC fractionation, followed by NMR and mass spectrometry, identified the known macrocyclic polyene lactam, piceamycin that was responsible for this activity. Further, we show that in its purified form, piceamycin has potent inhibitory activity toward P. larvae. Our results suggest that honey bees may use pollen-derived Actinobacteria and their associated small molecules to mediate colony health. Given the importance of honey bees to modern agriculture and their heightened susceptibility to disease, the discovery and development of antibiotic compounds from hives could serve as an important strategy in supporting disease management within apiaries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kirk J. Grubbs
- Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Pathology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States
| | - Daniel S. May
- Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States
| | - Joseph A. Sardina
- Laboratory of Genetics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States
| | - Renee K. Dermenjian
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Thomas P. Wyche
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Adrián A. Pinto-Tomás
- Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States
| | - Jon Clardy
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Cameron R. Currie
- Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States
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29
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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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30
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Pessotti RDC, Hansen BL, Reaso JN, Ceja-Navarro JA, El-Hifnawi L, Brodie EL, Traxler MF. Multiple lineages of Streptomyces produce antimicrobials within passalid beetle galleries across eastern North America. eLife 2021; 10:65091. [PMID: 33942718 PMCID: PMC8096431 DOI: 10.7554/elife.65091] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2020] [Accepted: 03/25/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Some insects form symbioses in which actinomycetes provide defense against pathogens by making antimicrobials. The range of chemical strategies employed across these associations, and how these strategies relate to insect lifestyle, remains underexplored. We assessed subsocial passalid beetles of the species Odontotaenius disjunctus, and their frass (fecal material), which is an important food resource within their galleries, as a model insect/actinomycete system. Through chemical and phylogenetic analyses, we found that O. disjunctus frass collected across eastern North America harbored multiple lineages of Streptomyces and diverse antimicrobials. Metabolites detected in frass displayed synergistic and antagonistic inhibition of a fungal entomopathogen, Metarhizium anisopliae, and multiple streptomycete isolates inhibited this pathogen when co-cultivated directly in frass. These findings support a model in which the lifestyle of O. disjunctus accommodates multiple Streptomyces lineages in their frass, resulting in a rich repertoire of antimicrobials that likely insulates their galleries against pathogenic invasion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rita de Cassia Pessotti
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, BerkeleyBerkeleyUnited States
| | - Bridget L Hansen
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, BerkeleyBerkeleyUnited States
| | - Jewel N Reaso
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, BerkeleyBerkeleyUnited States
| | - Javier A Ceja-Navarro
- Bioengineering and Biomedical Sciences Department, Biological Systems and Engineering Division, Lawrence Berkeley National LaboratoryBerkeleyUnited States,Institute for Biodiversity Science and Sustainability, California Academy of SciencesBerkeleyUnited States
| | - Laila El-Hifnawi
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of California, BerkeleyBerkeleyUnited States
| | - Eoin L Brodie
- Ecology Department, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lawrence Berkeley National LaboratoryBerkeleyUnited States,Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, BerkeleyBerkeleyUnited States
| | - Matthew F Traxler
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, BerkeleyBerkeleyUnited States
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31
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Goldstein SL, Klassen JL. Pseudonocardia Symbionts of Fungus-Growing Ants and the Evolution of Defensive Secondary Metabolism. Front Microbiol 2020; 11:621041. [PMID: 33424822 PMCID: PMC7793712 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.621041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2020] [Accepted: 12/03/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Actinobacteria belonging to the genus Pseudonocardia have evolved a close relationship with multiple species of fungus-growing ants, where these bacteria produce diverse secondary metabolites that protect the ants and their fungal mutualists from disease. Recent research has charted the phylogenetic diversity of this symbiosis, revealing multiple instances where the ants and Pseudonocardia have formed stable relationships in which these bacteria are housed on specific regions of the ant's cuticle. Parallel chemical and genomic analyses have also revealed that symbiotic Pseudonocardia produce diverse secondary metabolites with antifungal and antibacterial bioactivities, and highlighted the importance of plasmid recombination and horizontal gene transfer for maintaining these symbiotic traits. Here, we propose a multi-level model for the evolution of Pseudonocardia and their secondary metabolites that includes symbiont transmission within and between ant colonies, and the potentially independent movement and diversification of their secondary metabolite biosynthetic genes. Because of their well-studied ecology and experimental tractability, Pseudonocardia symbionts of fungus-growing ants are an especially useful model system to understand the evolution of secondary metabolites, and also comprise a significant source of novel antibiotic and antifungal agents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah L Goldstein
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Connecticut, Mansfield, CT, United States
| | - Jonathan L Klassen
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Connecticut, Mansfield, CT, United States
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32
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Dermauw W, Van Leeuwen T, Feyereisen R. Diversity and evolution of the P450 family in arthropods. INSECT BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2020; 127:103490. [PMID: 33169702 DOI: 10.1016/j.ibmb.2020.103490] [Citation(s) in RCA: 89] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2020] [Revised: 10/09/2020] [Accepted: 10/09/2020] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
The P450 family (CYP genes) of arthropods encodes diverse enzymes involved in the metabolism of foreign compounds and in essential endocrine or ecophysiological functions. The P450 sequences (CYPome) from 40 arthropod species were manually curated, including 31 complete CYPomes, and a maximum likelihood phylogeny of nearly 3000 sequences is presented. Arthropod CYPomes are assembled from members of six CYP clans of variable size, the CYP2, CYP3, CYP4 and mitochondrial clans, as well as the CYP20 and CYP16 clans that are not found in Neoptera. CYPome sizes vary from two dozen genes in some parasitic species to over 200 in species as diverse as collembolans or ticks. CYPomes are comprised of few CYP families with many genes and many CYP families with few genes, and this distribution is the result of dynamic birth and death processes. Lineage-specific expansions or blooms are found throughout the phylogeny and often result in genomic clusters that appear to form a reservoir of catalytic diversity maintained as heritable units. Among the many P450s with physiological functions, six CYP families are involved in ecdysteroid metabolism. However, five so-called Halloween genes are not universally represented and do not constitute the unique pathway of ecdysteroid biosynthesis. The diversity of arthropod CYPomes has only partially been uncovered to date and many P450s with physiological functions regulating the synthesis and degradation of endogenous signal molecules (including ecdysteroids) and semiochemicals (including pheromones and defense chemicals) remain to be discovered. Sequence diversity of arthropod P450s is extreme, and P450 sequences lacking the universally conserved Cys ligand to the heme have evolved several times. A better understanding of P450 evolution is needed to discern the relative contributions of stochastic processes and adaptive processes in shaping the size and diversity of CYPomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wannes Dermauw
- Laboratory of Agrozoology, Department of Plants and Crops, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Thomas Van Leeuwen
- Laboratory of Agrozoology, Department of Plants and Crops, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000, Ghent, Belgium
| | - René Feyereisen
- Laboratory of Agrozoology, Department of Plants and Crops, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000, Ghent, Belgium; Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 40 Thorvaldsensvej, DK-1871, Frederiksberg C, Copenhagen, Denmark.
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33
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Abstract
Although calcareous anatomical structures have evolved in diverse animal groups, such structures have been unknown in insects. Here, we report the discovery of high-magnesium calcite [CaMg(CO3)2] armor overlaying the exoskeletons of major workers of the leaf-cutter ant Acromyrmex echinatior. Live-rearing and in vitro synthesis experiments indicate that the biomineral layer accumulates rapidly as ant workers mature, that the layer is continuously distributed, covering nearly the entire integument, and that the ant epicuticle catalyzes biomineral nucleation and growth. In situ nanoindentation demonstrates that the biomineral layer significantly hardens the exoskeleton. Increased survival of ant workers with biomineralized exoskeletons during aggressive encounters with other ants and reduced infection by entomopathogenic fungi demonstrate the protective role of the biomineral layer. The discovery of biogenic high-magnesium calcite in the relatively well-studied leaf-cutting ants suggests that calcareous biominerals enriched in magnesium may be more common in metazoans than previously recognized. Biomineral armour is known in a number of diverse creatures but has not previously been observed in insects. Here, the authors report on the discovery and characterization of high-magnesium calcite armour which overlays the exoskeletons of leaf-cutter ants.
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34
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Chomicki G, Kiers ET, Renner SS. The Evolution of Mutualistic Dependence. ANNUAL REVIEW OF ECOLOGY EVOLUTION AND SYSTEMATICS 2020. [DOI: 10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-110218-024629] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
While the importance of mutualisms across the tree of life is recognized, it is not understood why some organisms evolve high levels of dependence on mutualistic partnerships, while other species remain autonomous or retain or regain minimal dependence on partners. We identify four main pathways leading to the evolution of mutualistic dependence. Then, we evaluate current evidence for three predictions: ( a) Mutualisms with different levels of dependence have distinct stabilizing mechanisms against exploitation and cheating, ( b) less dependent mutualists will return to autonomy more often than those that are highly dependent, and ( c) obligate mutualisms should be less context dependent than facultative ones. Although we find evidence supporting all three predictions, we stress that mutualistic partners follow diverse paths toward—and away from—dependence. We also highlight the need to better examine asymmetry in partner dependence. Recognizing how variation in dependence influences the stability, breakdown, and context dependence of mutualisms generates new hypotheses regarding how and why the benefits of mutualistic partnerships differ over time and space.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guillaume Chomicki
- Department of Bioscience, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, United Kingdom
| | - E. Toby Kiers
- Department of Ecological Science, Vrije Universiteit, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Susanne S. Renner
- Systematic Botany and Mycology, Department of Biology, University of Munich (LMU), 80638 Munich, Germany
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35
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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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36
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Chomicki G, Werner GDA, West SA, Kiers ET. Compartmentalization drives the evolution of symbiotic cooperation. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2020; 375:20190602. [PMID: 32772665 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0602] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Across the tree of life, hosts have evolved mechanisms to control and mediate interactions with symbiotic partners. We suggest that the evolution of physical structures that allow hosts to spatially separate symbionts, termed compartmentalization, is a common mechanism used by hosts. Such compartmentalization allows hosts to: (i) isolate symbionts and control their reproduction; (ii) reward cooperative symbionts and punish or stop interactions with non-cooperative symbionts; and (iii) reduce direct conflict among different symbionts strains in a single host. Compartmentalization has allowed hosts to increase the benefits that they obtain from symbiotic partners across a diversity of interactions, including legumes and rhizobia, plants and fungi, squid and Vibrio, insects and nutrient provisioning bacteria, plants and insects, and the human microbiome. In cases where compartmentalization has not evolved, we ask why not. We argue that when partners interact in a competitive hierarchy, or when hosts engage in partnerships which are less costly, compartmentalization is less likely to evolve. We conclude that compartmentalization is key to understanding the evolution of symbiotic cooperation. This article is part of the theme issue 'The role of the microbiome in host evolution'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guillaume Chomicki
- Department of Biosciences, Durham University, Stockton Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
| | - Gijsbert D A Werner
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Zoology Research and Administration Building, 11a Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3SZ, UK.,Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy, Buitenhof 34, 2513 AH Den Haag, The Netherlands
| | - Stuart A West
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Zoology Research and Administration Building, 11a Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3SZ, UK
| | - E Toby Kiers
- Department of Ecological Science, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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37
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Mitousis L, Thoma Y, Musiol-Kroll EM. An Update on Molecular Tools for Genetic Engineering of Actinomycetes-The Source of Important Antibiotics and Other Valuable Compounds. Antibiotics (Basel) 2020; 9:E494. [PMID: 32784409 PMCID: PMC7460540 DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics9080494] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2020] [Revised: 08/06/2020] [Accepted: 08/07/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The first antibiotic-producing actinomycete (Streptomyces antibioticus) was described by Waksman and Woodruff in 1940. This discovery initiated the "actinomycetes era", in which several species were identified and demonstrated to be a great source of bioactive compounds. However, the remarkable group of microorganisms and their potential for the production of bioactive agents were only partially exploited. This is caused by the fact that the growth of many actinomycetes cannot be reproduced on artificial media at laboratory conditions. In addition, sequencing, genome mining and bioactivity screening disclosed that numerous biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs), encoded in actinomycetes genomes are not expressed and thus, the respective potential products remain uncharacterized. Therefore, a lot of effort was put into the development of technologies that facilitate the access to actinomycetes genomes and activation of their biosynthetic pathways. In this review, we mainly focus on molecular tools and methods for genetic engineering of actinomycetes that have emerged in the field in the past five years (2015-2020). In addition, we highlight examples of successful application of the recently developed technologies in genetic engineering of actinomycetes for activation and/or improvement of the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Ewa M. Musiol-Kroll
- Interfaculty Institute for Microbiology and Infection Medicine Tübingen (IMIT), Microbiology/Biotechnology, University of Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 28, 72076 Tübingen, Germany; (L.M.); (Y.T.)
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38
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Smith CH, Pfeiffer JM, Johnson NA. Comparative phylogenomics reveal complex evolution of life history strategies in a clade of bivalves with parasitic larvae (Bivalvia: Unionoida: Ambleminae). Cladistics 2020; 36:505-520. [DOI: 10.1111/cla.12423] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/07/2020] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
| | - John M. Pfeiffer
- National Museum of Natural History Smithsonian Institution Washington DC USA
| | - Nathan A. Johnson
- U.S. Geological Survey, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center 7920 NW 71st Street Gainesville FL32653 USA
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39
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Ronque MUV, Lyra ML, Migliorini GH, Bacci M, Oliveira PS. Symbiotic bacterial communities in rainforest fungus-farming ants: evidence for species and colony specificity. Sci Rep 2020; 10:10172. [PMID: 32576863 PMCID: PMC7311517 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-66772-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2019] [Accepted: 05/19/2020] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Animals may host diverse bacterial communities that can markedly affect their behavioral physiology, ecology, and vulnerability to disease. Fungus-farming ants represent a classical example of mutualism that depends on symbiotic microorganisms. Unraveling the bacterial communities associated with fungus-farming ants is essential to understand the role of these microorganisms in the ant-fungus symbiosis. The bacterial community structure of five species of fungus-farmers (non-leaf-cutters; genera Mycocepurus, Mycetarotes, Mycetophylax, and Sericomyrmex) from three different environments in the Brazilian Atlantic rainforest (lowland forest, restinga forest, and sand dunes) was characterized with amplicon-based Illumina sequencing of 16 S ribosomal RNA gene. Possible differences in bacterial communities between ants internal to the nest (on the fungus garden) and external foragers were also investigated. Our results on the richness and diversity of associated bacteria provide novel evidence that these communities are host- and colony-specific in fungus-farming ants. Indeed, the bacterial communities associated with external foragers differ among the five species, and among colonies of the same species. Furthermore, bacterial communities from internal ants vs. foragers do not differ or differ only slightly within each ant species. This study highlights the importance of describing ant-associated bacterial communities to better understand this host-bacterial interaction in the social environment of insect colonies and provides the foundation for future studies on the ecological and evolutionary processes that drive the success of fungus-farming ants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariane U V Ronque
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Instituto de Biologia, C.P. 6109, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, 13083-862, Campinas, SP, Brazil.
| | - Mariana L Lyra
- Departamento de Biodiversidade, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Estadual Paulista - Campus Rio Claro, 13506-900, Rio Claro, SP, Brazil
| | - Gustavo H Migliorini
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Animal, Universidade Estadual Paulista - Campus São José do Rio Preto, 15054-000, São José do Rio Preto, SP, Brazil
| | - Maurício Bacci
- Centro de Estudos de Insetos Sociais, Universidade Estadual Paulista - Campus Rio Claro, 13506-900, Rio Claro, SP, Brazil
| | - Paulo S Oliveira
- Departamento de Biologia Animal, C.P. 6109, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, 13083-862, Campinas, SP, Brazil
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40
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Bizarria R, Nagamoto NS, Rodrigues A. Lack of fungal cultivar fidelity and low virulence of Escovopsis trichodermoides. FUNGAL ECOL 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.funeco.2020.100944] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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41
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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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42
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Fukuda TTH, Cassilly CD, Gerdt JP, Henke MT, Helfrich EJN, Mevers E. Research Tales from the Clardy Laboratory: Function-Driven Natural Product Discovery. JOURNAL OF NATURAL PRODUCTS 2020; 83:744-755. [PMID: 32105475 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.9b01086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Over the past 70 years, the search for small molecules from nature has transformed biomedical research: natural products are the basis for half of all pharmaceuticals; the quest for total synthesis of natural products fueled development of methodologies for organic synthesis; and their biosynthesis presented unprecedented biochemical transformations, expanding our chemo-enzymatic toolkit. Initially, the discovery of small molecules was driven by bioactivity-guided fractionation. However, this approach yielded the frequent rediscovery of already known metabolites. As a result, focus shifted to identifying novel scaffolds through either structure-first methods or genome mining, relegating function as a secondary concern. Over the past two decades, the laboratory of Jon Clardy has taken an alternative route and focused on an ecology-driven, function-first approach in pursuit of uncovering bacterial small molecules with biological activity. In this review, we highlight several examples that showcase this ecology-first approach. Though the highlighted systems are diverse, unifying themes are (1) to understand how microbes interact with their host or environment, (2) to gain insights into the environmental roles of microbial metabolites, and (3) to explore pharmaceutical potential from these ecologically relevant metabolites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Taise T H Fukuda
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Departamento de Ciências Farmacêuticas, Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Avenida do Café, s/n, 14040-903, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil
| | - Chelsi D Cassilly
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Joseph P Gerdt
- Department of Chemistry, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405, United States
| | - Matthew T Henke
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Eric J N Helfrich
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Emily Mevers
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
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43
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Bratburd JR, Arango RA, Horn HA. Defensive Symbioses in Social Insects Can Inform Human Health and Agriculture. Front Microbiol 2020; 11:76. [PMID: 32117113 PMCID: PMC7020198 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.00076] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2019] [Accepted: 01/14/2020] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Social animals are among the most successful organisms on the planet and derive many benefits from living in groups, including facilitating the evolution of agriculture. However, living in groups increases the risk of disease transmission in social animals themselves and the cultivated crops upon which they obligately depend. Social insects offer an interesting model to compare to human societies, in terms of how insects manage disease within their societies and with their agricultural symbionts. As living in large groups can help the spread of beneficial microbes as well as pathogens, we examine the role of defensive microbial symbionts in protecting the host from pathogens. We further explore how beneficial microbes may influence other pathogen defenses including behavioral and immune responses, and how we can use insect systems as models to inform on issues relating to human health and agriculture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer R. Bratburd
- Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States
| | - Rachel A. Arango
- Forest Products Laboratory, United States Forest Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Madison, WI, United States
| | - Heidi A. Horn
- Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States
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44
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Abstract
Diverse forms of cultivation have evolved across the tree of life. Efficient farming requires that the farmer deciphers and actively promotes conditions that increase crop yield. For plant cultivation, this can include evaluating tradeoffs among light, nutrients, and protection against herbivores. It is not understood if, or how, nonhuman farmers evaluate local conditions to increase payoffs. Here, we address this question using an obligate farming mutualism between the ant Philidris nagasau and epiphytic plants in the genus Squamellaria that are cultivated for their nesting sites and floral rewards. We focused on the ants' active fertilization of their crops and their protection against herbivory. We found that ants benefited from cultivating plants in full sun, receiving 7.5-fold more floral food rewards compared to shade-cultivated plants. The higher reward levels correlated with higher levels of crop protection provided by the ants. However, while high-light planting yielded the greatest immediate food rewards, sun-grown crops contained less nitrogen compared to shade-grown crops. This was due to lower nitrogen input from ants feeding on floral rewards instead of insect protein gained from predation. Despite this tradeoff, farming ants optimize crop yield by selectively planting their crops in full sun. Ancestral state reconstructions across this ant-plant clade show that a full-sun farming strategy has existed for millions of years, suggesting that nonhuman farmers have evolved the means to evaluate and balance conflicting crop needs to their own benefit.
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45
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Caldera EJ, Chevrette MG, McDonald BR, Currie CR. Local Adaptation of Bacterial Symbionts within a Geographic Mosaic of Antibiotic Coevolution. Appl Environ Microbiol 2019; 85:e01580-19. [PMID: 31676475 PMCID: PMC6881802 DOI: 10.1128/aem.01580-19] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2019] [Accepted: 09/22/2019] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The geographic mosaic theory of coevolution (GMC) posits that coevolutionary dynamics go beyond local coevolution and are comprised of the following three components: geographic selection mosaics, coevolutionary hot spots, and trait remixing. It is unclear whether the GMC applies to bacteria, as horizontal gene transfer and cosmopolitan dispersal may violate theoretical assumptions. Here, we test key GMC predictions in an antibiotic-producing bacterial symbiont (genus Pseudonocardia) that protects the crops of neotropical fungus-farming ants (Apterostigma dentigerum) from a specialized pathogen (genus Escovopsis). We found that Pseudonocardia antibiotic inhibition of common Escovopsis pathogens was elevated in A. dentigerum colonies from Panama compared to those from Costa Rica. Furthermore, a Panama Canal Zone population of Pseudonocardia on Barro Colorado Island (BCI) was locally adapted, whereas two neighboring populations were not, consistent with a GMC-predicted selection mosaic and a hot spot of adaptation surrounded by areas of maladaptation. Maladaptation was shaped by incongruent Pseudonocardia-Escovopsis population genetic structure, whereas local adaptation was facilitated by geographic isolation on BCI after the flooding of the Panama Canal. Genomic assessments of antibiotic potential of 29 Pseudonocardia strains identified diverse and unique biosynthetic gene clusters in BCI strains despite low genetic diversity in the core genome. The strength of antibiotic inhibition was not correlated with the presence/absence of individual biosynthetic gene clusters or with parasite location. Rather, biosynthetic gene clusters have undergone selective sweeps, suggesting that the trait remixing dynamics conferring the long-term maintenance of antibiotic potency rely on evolutionary genetic changes within already-present biosynthetic gene clusters and not simply on the horizontal acquisition of novel genetic elements or pathways.IMPORTANCE Recently, coevolutionary theory in macroorganisms has been advanced by the geographic mosaic theory of coevolution (GMC), which considers how geography and local adaptation shape coevolutionary dynamics. Here, we test GMC in an ancient symbiosis in which the ant Apterostigma dentigerum cultivates fungi in an agricultural system analogous to human farming. The cultivars are parasitized by the fungus Escovopsis The ants maintain symbiotic actinobacteria with antibiotic properties that help combat Escovopsis infection. This antibiotic symbiosis has persisted for tens of millions of years, raising the question of how antibiotic potency is maintained over these time scales. Our study tests the GMC in a bacterial defensive symbiosis and in a multipartite symbiosis framework. Our results show that this multipartite symbiotic system conforms to the GMC and demonstrate that this theory is applicable in both microbes and indirect symbiont-symbiont interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric J Caldera
- Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Marc G Chevrette
- Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
- Department of Genetics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Bradon R McDonald
- Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Cameron R Currie
- Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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46
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Stubbendieck RM, Li H, Currie CR. Convergent evolution of signal-structure interfaces for maintaining symbioses. Curr Opin Microbiol 2019; 50:71-78. [PMID: 31707219 DOI: 10.1016/j.mib.2019.10.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2019] [Revised: 09/30/2019] [Accepted: 10/01/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Symbiotic microbes are essential to the ecological success and evolutionary diversification of multicellular organisms. The establishment and stability of bipartite symbioses are shaped by mechanisms ensuring partner fidelity between host and symbiont. In this minireview, we demonstrate how the interface of chemical signals and host structures influences fidelity between legume root nodules and rhizobia, Hawaiian bobtail squid light organs and Allivibrio fischeri, and fungus-growing ant crypts and Pseudonocardia. Subsequently, we illustrate the morphological diversity and widespread phylogenetic distribution of specialized structures used by hosts to house microbial symbionts, indicating the importance of signal-structure interfaces across the history of multicellular life. These observations, and the insights garnered from well-studied bipartite associations, demonstrate the need to concentrate on the signal-structure interface in complex and multipartite systems, including the human microbiome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Reed M Stubbendieck
- Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, United States
| | - Hongjie Li
- Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, United States
| | - Cameron R Currie
- Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, United States.
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47
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Treanor D, Hughes WOH. Limited female dispersal predicts the incidence of Wolbachia across ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). J Evol Biol 2019; 32:1163-1170. [PMID: 31334893 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13510] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2019] [Revised: 06/14/2019] [Accepted: 07/01/2019] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
The endosymbiotic bacterium Wolbachia is perhaps the greatest panzootic in the history of life on Earth, yet remarkably little is known regarding the factors that determine its incidence across species. One possibility is that Wolbachia more easily invades species with structured populations, due to the increased strength of genetic drift and higher initial frequency of infection. This should enable strains that induce mating incompatibilities to more easily cross the threshold prevalence above which they spread to either fixation or a stable equilibrium infection prevalence. Here, we provide empirical support for this hypothesis by analysing the relationship between female dispersal (as a proxy for population structure) and the incidence of Wolbachia across 250 species of ants. We show that species in which the dispersal of reproductive females is limited are significantly more likely to be infected with Wolbachia than species whose reproductive ecology is consistent with significant dispersal of females, and that this relationship remains after controlling for host phylogeny. We suggest that structured host populations, in this case resulting from limited female dispersal, may be an important feature determining how easily Wolbachia becomes successfully established in a novel host, and thus its occurrence across a wide diversity of invertebrate hosts.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Treanor
- School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
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48
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Boza G, Worsley SF, Yu DW, Scheuring I. Efficient assembly and long-term stability of defensive microbiomes via private resources and community bistability. PLoS Comput Biol 2019; 15:e1007109. [PMID: 31150382 PMCID: PMC6576795 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1007109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2019] [Revised: 06/17/2019] [Accepted: 05/15/2019] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding the mechanisms that promote the assembly and maintenance of host-beneficial microbiomes is an open problem. Empirical evidence supports the idea that animal and plant hosts can combine 'private resources' with the ecological phenomenon known as 'community bistability' to favour some microbial strains over others. We briefly review evidence showing that hosts can: (i) protect the growth of beneficial strains in an isolated habitat, (ii) use antibiotics to suppress non-beneficial, competitor strains, and (iii) provide resources that only beneficial strains are able to translate into an increased rate of growth, reproduction, or antibiotic production. We then demonstrate in a spatially explicit, individual-based model that these three mechanisms act similarly by selectively promoting the initial proliferation of preferred strains, that is, by acting as a private resource. The faster early growth of preferred strains, combined with the phenomenon of 'community bistability,' allows those strains to continue to dominate the microbiome even after the private resource is withdrawn or made public. This is because after a beneficial colony reaches a sufficiently large size, it can resist invasion by parasites without further private support from the host. We further explicitly model localized microbial interactions and diffusion dynamics, and we show that an intermediate level of antibiotic diffusion is the most efficient mechanism in promoting preferred strains and that there is a wide range of parameters under which hosts can promote the assembly of a self-sustaining defensive microbiome. This in turn supports the idea that hosts readily evolve to promote host-beneficial defensive microbiomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gergely Boza
- Evolutionary Systems Research Group, MTA Centre for Ecological Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Tihany, Hungary
- International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Laxenburg, Austria
- * E-mail: , (GB); (IS)
| | - Sarah F. Worsley
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, United Kingdom
| | - Douglas W. Yu
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, United Kingdom
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan, China
- Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan, China
| | - István Scheuring
- Evolutionary Systems Research Group, MTA Centre for Ecological Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Tihany, Hungary
- MTA-ELTE Theoretical Biology and Evolutionary Ecology Research Group, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
- * E-mail: , (GB); (IS)
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49
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Hammer TJ, Sanders JG, Fierer N. Not all animals need a microbiome. FEMS Microbiol Lett 2019; 366:5499024. [DOI: 10.1093/femsle/fnz117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 125] [Impact Index Per Article: 25.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2019] [Accepted: 05/25/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
ABSTRACTIt is often taken for granted that all animals host and depend upon a microbiome, yet this has only been shown for a small proportion of species. We propose that animals span a continuum of reliance on microbial symbionts. At one end are the famously symbiont-dependent species such as aphids, humans, corals and cows, in which microbes are abundant and important to host fitness. In the middle are species that may tolerate some microbial colonization but are only minimally or facultatively dependent. At the other end are species that lack beneficial symbionts altogether. While their existence may seem improbable, animals are capable of limiting microbial growth in and on their bodies, and a microbially independent lifestyle may be favored by selection under some circumstances. There is already evidence for several ‘microbiome-free’ lineages that represent distantly related branches in the animal phylogeny. We discuss why these animals have received such little attention, highlighting the potential for contaminants, transients, and parasites to masquerade as beneficial symbionts. We also suggest ways to explore microbiomes that address the limitations of DNA sequencing. We call for further research on microbiome-free taxa to provide a more complete understanding of the ecology and evolution of macrobe-microbe interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tobin J Hammer
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, 2506 Speedway, NMS 4.216, Austin, TX 78712, USA
| | - Jon G Sanders
- Cornell Institute of Host–Microbe Interactions and Disease, Cornell University, E145 Corson Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Noah Fierer
- Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado at Boulder, 216 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
- Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado at Boulder, CIRES Bldg. Rm. 318, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
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Mandel MJ, Broderick NA, Martens EC, Guillemin K. Reports from a Healthy Community: The 7th Conference on Beneficial Microbes. Appl Environ Microbiol 2018; 85:AEM.02562-18. [PMID: 30578257 PMCID: PMC6498156 DOI: 10.1128/aem.02562-18] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The last two decades have seen an explosion in research about the beneficial microbial communities associated with plants and animals. Initially this explosion was driven by technological advances that enabled explorations of microbiomes on unprecedented scales. Increasingly, the drive is coming from conceptual advances that are the fruit of research investments into experimental systems to probe the functions of these beneficial microbes and their mechanisms of action. The Conference on Beneficial Microbes has been one of the premiere venues for this research. The 7th Conference on Beneficial Microbes was held July 8-11, 2018, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Memorial Union. The 308 attendees-representing academia, industry, journals, and funding agencies-participated in an intense 4-day meeting encompassing research frontiers in beneficial microbiology and microbiome science.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark J Mandel
- University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Medical Microbiology & Immunology, Madison, WI 53706
| | - Nichole A Broderick
- University of Connecticut, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology and the Institute for Systems Genomics, Storrs, CT 06268
| | - Eric C Martens
- University of Michigan Medical School, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
| | - Karen Guillemin
- University of Oregon, Institute of Molecular Biology, Eugene, OR 97403
- Humans and the Microbiome Program, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1Z8, Canada
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