Fungal symbiont of an ambrosia beetle possesses high nutrient content and suppresses competing fungi with antimicrobial compounds.

ABSTRACT: Wood-colonizing beetles are associated with a diversity of microbes many of which are thought to act as mutualists with their beetle hosts, but the evidence is usually anecdotal. The ship-timber beetle Elateroides dermestoides, one of the few fungus-farming but nonsocial ambrosia beetles, is described to have a mutualistic relationship with the yeast-like fungus Alloascoidea hylecoeti. Here, we tested the hypothesis that A. hylecoeti has a high nutrient content thus allowing it to function as a valuable food source for the solitary larvae of E. dermestoides, which bore into the wood of dead trees, an extremely nutrient-poor substrate. Our analyses revealed that A. hylecoeti is rich in soluble sugars, free amino acids, ergosterol, phosphorus, and potassium compared to the other fungi measur

SUBMITTER: Lehenberger M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12684719 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature