Evidence that the domesticated fungus Leucoagaricus gongylophorus recycles its cytoplasmic contents as nutritional rewards to feed its leafcutter ant farmers.

ABSTRACT: Leafcutter ants farm a fungal cultivar (Leucoagaricus gongylophorus) that converts inedible vegetation into food that sustains colonies with up to millions of workers. Analogous to edible fruits of crops domesticated by humans, L. gongylophorus has evolved specialized nutritional rewards-swollen hyphal cells called gongylidia that package metabolites and are consumed by ant farmers. Yet, little is known about how gongylidia form, and thus how fungal physiology and ant provisioning collectively govern farming performance. We explored the process of gongylidium formation using advanced microscopy to image the cultivar at scales of nanometers, and both in vitro experiments and in silico analyses to examine the mechanisms of gongylidia formation when isolated from ant farmers. We first used tr

SUBMITTER: Leal-Dutra CA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10503033 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature