Lactic Acid Bacteria Are Prevalent in the Infrabuccal Pockets and Crops of Ants That Prefer Aphid Honeydew.

ABSTRACT: Ants are evolutionarily successful species and occupy diverse trophic and habitat niches on the earth. To fulfill dietary requirements, ants have established commensalism with both sap-feeding insects and bacteria. In this study, we used high-throughput sequencing of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene to characterize the bacterial composition and structure of the digestive tracts in three species of Formica ants and Lasius niger (Linnaeus)-species that predominantly feed on honeydew secreted by aphids. We found that bacterial communities displayed species- and colony-level signatures, and that bacterial communities in the infrabuccal pockets and crops were different from those in the midguts and hindguts. Lactobacillus and Wolbachia were dominant in the infrabuccal poc

SUBMITTER: Zheng Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8814368 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature