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Bamisile BS, Siddiqui JA, Nie L, Idrees A, Aguila LCR, Jia C, Xu Y. Baseline Analysis of Endophytic Fungal Associates of Solenopsis invicta Buren from Mounds across Five Counties of Guangdong Province, China. J Fungi (Basel) 2023; 9:jof9030377. [PMID: 36983545 PMCID: PMC10058942 DOI: 10.3390/jof9030377] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2023] [Revised: 03/14/2023] [Accepted: 03/17/2023] [Indexed: 03/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Red imported fire ants mounds have been suggested as a potential reservoir for beneficial entomopathogenic fungal species that are vital for more complex roles in the ecosystem aside from infecting the insects. In the current study, the assemblage of fungal symbionts of the red imported fire ants (RIFA) were obtained across five cities in Guangdong Province, China. The sampling areas were selected because of high occurrence of fire ants mounds in the regions. Mound soils, plant debris within mounds, and ants were collected from three sampling locations in each city for potential isolation of entomopathogenic fungal associates of RIFA. All samples were collected during the spring of 2021. Following successful isolation from substrates, the patterns of fungal species composition, and richness were evaluated. In total, 843 isolates were recovered, and based on their phenotypic distinctiveness and molecular characterization based on DNA sequences of multiple loci including the ITS, SSU, and LSU regions, 46 fungal taxa were obtained, including 12 that were unidentified. Species richness and abundance was highest in the mound soils, while the lowest value was recorded from the ant body. As per the different locations, the highest abundance level was recorded in Zhuhai, where 15 fungal taxa were cultivated. The most common taxa across all substrates and locations was Talaromyces diversus. A baseline analysis of the fungal community composition of RIFA would better our understanding on the interactions between these social ants and their associated microbial organisms, and this knowledge in turn would be important for the successful management of the RIFA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bamisope Steve Bamisile
- Department of Entomology, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
- Henry Fok School of Biology and Agriculture, Shaoguan University, Shaoguan 512005, China
| | - Junaid Ali Siddiqui
- College of Agriculture, College of Tobacco Science, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China
| | - Lei Nie
- Department of Entomology, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
| | - Atif Idrees
- Guizhou Provincial Key Laboratory for Agricultural Pest Management of the Mountainous Region, Scientific Observing and Experimental Station of Crop Pest in Guiyang, Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Entomology, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China
| | - Luis Carlos Ramos Aguila
- Key Laboratory of Vegetation Restoration and Management of Degraded Ecosystems, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China
| | - Chunsheng Jia
- Henry Fok School of Biology and Agriculture, Shaoguan University, Shaoguan 512005, China
| | - Yijuan Xu
- Department of Entomology, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
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Dhaygude K, Trontti K, Paviala J, Morandin C, Wheat C, Sundström L, Helanterä H. Transcriptome sequencing reveals high isoform diversity in the ant Formica exsecta. PeerJ 2017; 5:e3998. [PMID: 29177112 PMCID: PMC5701548 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.3998] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2017] [Accepted: 10/17/2017] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Transcriptome resources for social insects have the potential to provide new insight into polyphenism, i.e., how divergent phenotypes arise from the same genome. Here we present a transcriptome based on paired-end RNA sequencing data for the ant Formica exsecta (Formicidae, Hymenoptera). The RNA sequencing libraries were constructed from samples of several life stages of both sexes and female castes of queens and workers, in order to maximize representation of expressed genes. We first compare the performance of common assembly and scaffolding software (Trinity, Velvet-Oases, and SOAPdenovo-trans), in producing de novo assemblies. Second, we annotate the resulting expressed contigs to the currently published genomes of ants, and other insects, including the honeybee, to filter genes that have annotation evidence of being true genes. Our pipeline resulted in a final assembly of altogether 39,262 mRNA transcripts, with an average coverage of >300X, belonging to 17,496 unique genes with annotation in the related ant species. From these genes, 536 genes were unique to one caste or sex only, highlighting the importance of comprehensive sampling. Our final assembly also showed expression of several splice variants in 6,975 genes, and we show that accounting for splice variants affects the outcome of downstream analyses such as gene ontologies. Our transcriptome provides an outstanding resource for future genetic studies on F. exsecta and other ant species, and the presented transcriptome assembly can be adapted to any non-model species that has genomic resources available from a related taxon.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kishor Dhaygude
- Centre of Excellence in Biological Interactions, Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Kalevi Trontti
- Department of Biosciences, Neurogenomics Laboratory, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Jenni Paviala
- Centre of Excellence in Biological Interactions, Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Claire Morandin
- Centre of Excellence in Biological Interactions, Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Christopher Wheat
- Department of Zoology Ecology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Liselotte Sundström
- Centre of Excellence in Biological Interactions, Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Tvärminne Zoological Station, University of Helsinki, Hanko, Finland
| | - Heikki Helanterä
- Centre of Excellence in Biological Interactions, Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Tvärminne Zoological Station, University of Helsinki, Hanko, Finland
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Duff LB, Urichuk TM, Hodgins LN, Young JR, Untereiner WA. Diversity of fungi from the mound nests ofFormica ulkeiand adjacent non-nest soils. Can J Microbiol 2016; 62:562-71. [DOI: 10.1139/cjm-2015-0628] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Culture-based methods were employed to recover 3929 isolates of fungi from soils collected in May and July 2014 from mound nests of Formica ulkei and adjacent non-nest sites. The abundance, diversity, and richness of species from nest mounds exceeded those of non-mound soils, particularly in July. Communities of fungi from mounds were more similar to those from mounds than non-mounds; this was also the case for non-mound soils with the exception of one non-mound site in July. Species of Aspergillus, Paecilomyces, and Penicillium were dominant in nest soils and represented up to 81.8% of the taxa recovered. Members of the genus Aspergillus accounted for the majority of Trichocomaceae from nests and were represented almost exclusively by Aspergillus navahoensis and Aspergillus pseudodeflectus. Dominant fungi from non-mound sites included Cladosporium cladosporioides, Geomyces pannorum, and species of Acremonium, Fusarium, Penicillium, and Phoma. Although mound nests were warmer than adjacent soils, the dominance of xerotolerant Aspergillus in soils from mounds and the isolation of the majority of Trichocomaceae at 25 and 35 °C suggests that both temperature and water availability may be determinants of fungal community structure in nests of F. ulkei.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lyndon B. Duff
- Department of Biology, Brandon University, 270 18th Street, Brandon, MB R7A 6A9, Canada
- Department of Biology, Brandon University, 270 18th Street, Brandon, MB R7A 6A9, Canada
| | - Theresa M. Urichuk
- Department of Biology, Brandon University, 270 18th Street, Brandon, MB R7A 6A9, Canada
- Department of Biology, Brandon University, 270 18th Street, Brandon, MB R7A 6A9, Canada
| | - Lisa N. Hodgins
- Department of Biology, Brandon University, 270 18th Street, Brandon, MB R7A 6A9, Canada
- Department of Biology, Brandon University, 270 18th Street, Brandon, MB R7A 6A9, Canada
| | - Jocelyn R. Young
- Department of Biology, Brandon University, 270 18th Street, Brandon, MB R7A 6A9, Canada
- Department of Biology, Brandon University, 270 18th Street, Brandon, MB R7A 6A9, Canada
| | - Wendy A. Untereiner
- Department of Biology, Brandon University, 270 18th Street, Brandon, MB R7A 6A9, Canada
- Department of Biology, Brandon University, 270 18th Street, Brandon, MB R7A 6A9, Canada
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Woolfolk S, Stokes CE, Watson C, Baker G, Brown R, Baird R. Fungi Associated withSolenopsis invictaBuren (Red Imported Fire Ant, Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Mounds in Mississippi. SOUTHEAST NAT 2016. [DOI: 10.1656/058.015.0203] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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Disease Dynamics in Ants: A Critical Review of the Ecological Relevance of Using Generalist Fungi to Study Infections in Insect Societies. ADVANCES IN GENETICS 2016; 94:287-306. [PMID: 27131328 DOI: 10.1016/bs.adgen.2015.12.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
It is assumed that social life can lead to the rapid spread of infectious diseases and outbreaks. In ants, disease outbreaks are rare and the expression of collective behaviors is invoked to explain the absence of epidemics in natural populations. Here, we address the ecological approach employed by many studies that have notably focused (89% of the studies) on two genera of generalist fungal parasites (Beauveria and Metarhizium). We ask whether these are the most representative models to study the evolutionary ecology of ant-fungal parasite interactions. To assess this, we critically examine the literature on ants and their interactions with fungal parasites from the past 114years (1900-2014). We discuss how current evolutionary ecology approaches emerged from studies focused on the biological control of pest ants. We also analyzed the ecological relevance of the laboratory protocols used in evolutionary ecology studies employing generalist parasites, as well as the rare natural occurrence of these parasites on ants. After a detailed consideration of all the publications, we suggest that using generalist pathogens such as Beauveria and Metarhizium is not an optimal approach if the goal is to study the evolutionary ecology of disease in ants. We conclude by advocating for approaches that incorporate greater realism.
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Woolfolk S, Stokes CE, Watson C, Brown R, Baird R. Bacteria Associated with Red Imported Fire Ants (Solenopsis invicta) from Mounds in Mississippi. SOUTHEAST NAT 2016. [DOI: 10.1656/058.015.0107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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Rodrigues A, Passarini MRZ, Ferro M, Nagamoto NS, Forti LC, Bacci M, Sette LD, Pagnocca FC. Fungal communities in the garden chamber soils of leaf-cutting ants. J Basic Microbiol 2013; 54:1186-96. [PMID: 23681670 DOI: 10.1002/jobm.201200458] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2012] [Accepted: 12/15/2012] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
Leaf-cutting ants modify the properties of the soil adjacent to their nests. Here, we examined whether such an ant-altered environment impacts the belowground fungal communities. Fungal diversity and community structure of soil from the fungus garden chambers of Atta sexdens rubropilosa and Atta bisphaerica, two widespread leaf-cutting ants in Brazil, were determined and compared with non-nest soils. Culture-dependent methods revealed similar species richness but different community compositions between both types of soils. Penicillium janthinellum and Trichoderma spirale were the prevalent isolates in fungus chamber soils and non-nest soils, respectively. In contrast to cultivation methods, analyses of clone libraries based on the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region indicated that richness of operational taxonomic units significantly differed between soils of the fungus chamber and non-nest soils. FastUnifrac analyses based on ITS sequences further revealed a clear distinction in the community structure between both types of soils. Plectania milleri and an uncultured Clavariaceae fungus were prevalent in fungus chamber soils and non-nest soils, respectively. FastUnifrac analyses also revealed that fungal community structures of soil from the garden chambers markedly differed among ant species. Our findings suggest that leaf-cutting ants affect fungal communities in the soil from the fungus chamber in comparison to non-nest soils.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andre Rodrigues
- Center for the Study of Social Insects, UNESP - São Paulo State University, Rio Claro, SP, Brazil; Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, UNESP - São Paulo State University, Rio Claro, SP, Brazil
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Ishak HD, Plowes R, Sen R, Kellner K, Meyer E, Estrada DA, Dowd SE, Mueller UG. Bacterial diversity in Solenopsis invicta and Solenopsis geminata ant colonies characterized by 16S amplicon 454 pyrosequencing. MICROBIAL ECOLOGY 2011; 61:821-831. [PMID: 21243351 DOI: 10.1007/s00248-010-9793-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 128] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2010] [Accepted: 12/06/2010] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
Social insects harbor diverse assemblages of bacterial microbes, which may play a crucial role in the success or failure of biological invasions. The invasive fire ant Solenopsis invicta (Formicidae, Hymenoptera) is a model system for understanding the dynamics of invasive social insects and their biological control. However, little is known about microbes as biotic factors influencing the success or failure of ant invasions. This pilot study is the first attempt to characterize and compare microbial communities associated with the introduced S. invicta and the native Solenopsis geminata in the USA. Using 16S amplicon 454 pyrosequencing, bacterial communities of workers, brood, and soil from nest walls were compared between neighboring S. invicta and S. geminata colonies at Brackenridge Field Laboratory, Austin, Texas, with the aim of identifying potential pathogenic, commensal, or mutualistic microbial associates. Two samples of S. geminata workers showed high counts of Spiroplasma bacteria, a known pathogen or mutualist of other insects. A subsequent analysis using PCR and sequencing confirmed the presence of Spiroplasma in additional colonies of both Solenopsis species. Wolbachia was found in one alate sample of S. geminata, while one brood sample of S. invicta had a high count of Lactococcus. As expected, ant samples from both species showed much lower microbial diversity than the surrounding soil. Both ant species had similar overall bacterial diversities, although little overlap in specific microbes. To properly characterize a single bacterial community associated with a Solenopsis ant sample, rarefaction analyses indicate that it is necessary to obtain 5,000-10,000 sequences. Overall, 16S amplicon 454 pyrosequencing appears to be a cost-effective approach to screen whole microbial diversity associated with invasive ant species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heather D Ishak
- Section of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, 2401 Speedway Drive C0930, Austin, TX 78712, USA.
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Chemical signals associated with life inhibit necrophoresis in Argentine ants. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2009; 106:8251-5. [PMID: 19416815 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0901270106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
One of the most conspicuous and stereotyped activities of social insects such as ants and honey bees is necrophoresis, the removal of dead colony members from the nest. Previous researchers suggested that decomposition products such as fatty acids trigger necrophoric behavior by ant workers. However, fatty acids elicit both foraging and necrophoric responses, depending on the current nest activities (e.g., feeding or nest maintenance). Furthermore, workers often carry even freshly killed workers (dead for <1 h) to refuse piles before significant decomposition has a chance to occur. Here, we show that the cuticular chemistry of Argentine ant workers, Linepithema humile, undergoes rapid changes after death. When the workers are alive or freshly killed, relatively large amounts of 2 characteristic ant-produced compounds, dolichodial and iridomyrmecin, are present on the ants' cuticle. However, these compounds disappear from the cuticle within about 1 h after death. We demonstrate how this phenomenon supports an alternative mechanism of ant necrophoresis in which the precise recognition and rapid removal of dead nestmates are elicited by the disappearance of these chemical signals associated with life.
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