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Scott JJ, Budsberg KJ, Suen G, Wixon DL, Balser TC, Currie CR. Microbial community structure of leaf-cutter ant fungus gardens and refuse dumps. PLoS One 2010; 5:e9922. [PMID: 20360970 PMCID: PMC2847949 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0009922] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2010] [Accepted: 03/01/2010] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Leaf-cutter ants use fresh plant material to grow a mutualistic fungus that serves as the ants' primary food source. Within fungus gardens, various plant compounds are metabolized and transformed into nutrients suitable for ant consumption. This symbiotic association produces a large amount of refuse consisting primarily of partly degraded plant material. A leaf-cutter ant colony is thus divided into two spatially and chemically distinct environments that together represent a plant biomass degradation gradient. Little is known about the microbial community structure in gardens and dumps or variation between lab and field colonies. Methodology/Principal Findings Using microbial membrane lipid analysis and a variety of community metrics, we assessed and compared the microbiota of fungus gardens and refuse dumps from both laboratory-maintained and field-collected colonies. We found that gardens contained a diverse and consistent community of microbes, dominated by Gram-negative bacteria, particularly γ-Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes. These findings were consistent across lab and field gardens, as well as host ant taxa. In contrast, dumps were enriched for Gram-positive and anaerobic bacteria. Broad-scale clustering analyses revealed that community relatedness between samples reflected system component (gardens/dumps) rather than colony source (lab/field). At finer scales samples clustered according to colony source. Conclusions/Significance Here we report the first comparative analysis of the microbiota from leaf-cutter ant colonies. Our work reveals the presence of two distinct communities: one in the fungus garden and the other in the refuse dump. Though we find some effect of colony source on community structure, our data indicate the presence of consistently associated microbes within gardens and dumps. Substrate composition and system component appear to be the most important factor in structuring the microbial communities. These results thus suggest that resident communities are shaped by the plant degradation gradient created by ant behavior, specifically their fungiculture and waste management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jarrod J. Scott
- United States Department of Energy (DOE) Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America
- Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), Balboa, Ancon, Republic of Panamá
| | - Kevin J. Budsberg
- United States Department of Energy (DOE) Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America
- Department of Soil Science, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America
| | - Garret Suen
- United States Department of Energy (DOE) Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America
- Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America
| | - Devin L. Wixon
- Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America
| | - Teri C. Balser
- United States Department of Energy (DOE) Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America
- Department of Soil Science, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America
| | - Cameron R. Currie
- United States Department of Energy (DOE) Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America
- Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), Balboa, Ancon, Republic of Panamá
- * E-mail:
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Suen G, Arshinoff BI, Taylor RG, Welch RD. Practical Applications of Bacterial Functional Genomics. Biotechnol Genet Eng Rev 2007; 24:213-42. [DOI: 10.1080/02648725.2007.10648101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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