The evolution of abdominal microbiomes in fungus-growing ants.

ABSTRACT: The attine ants are a monophyletic lineage that switched to fungus farming ca. 55-60 MYA. They have become a model for the study of complex symbioses after additional fungal and bacterial symbionts were discovered, but their abdominal endosymbiotic bacteria remain largely unknown. Here, we present a comparative microbiome analysis of endosymbiotic bacteria spanning the entire phylogenetic tree. We show that, across 17 representative sympatric species from eight genera sampled in Panama, abdominal microbiomes are dominated by Mollicutes, α- and γ-Proteobacteria, and Actinobacteria. Bacterial abundances increase from basal to crown branches in the phylogeny reflecting a shift towards putative specialized and abundant abdominal microbiota after the ants domesticated gongylidia-bearing cultiva

SUBMITTER: Sapountzis P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6446810 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature