Microbial community structure of leaf-cutter ant fungus gardens and refuse dumps.

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

SUBMITTER: Scott JJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2847949 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature