Deep Sequencing Uncovers Caste-Associated Diversity of Symbionts in the Social Ant Camponotus japonicus.

ABSTRACT: Symbiotic microorganisms can have a profound impact on the host physiology and behavior, and novel relationships between symbionts and their hosts are continually discovered. A colony of social ants consists of various castes that exhibit distinct lifestyles and is, thus, a unique model for investigating how symbionts may be involved in host eusociality. Yet our knowledge of social ant-symbiont dynamics has remained rudimentary. Through 16S rRNA gene deep sequencing of the carpenter ant Camponotus japonicus symbiont community across various castes, we here report caste-dependent diversity of commensal gut microbiota and lineage divergence of "Candidatus Blochmannia," an obligate endosymbiont. While most prevalent gut-associated bacterial populations are found across all caste

SUBMITTER: Koto A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7175090 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature