Coevolved crypts and exocrine glands support mutualistic bacteria in fungus-growing ants.

Supporting Online Material for Coevolved Crypts and Exocrine Glands Support Mutualistic Bacteria in Fungus-Growing Ants

Reduced biological control and enhanced chemical pest management in the evolution of fungus farming in ants.

To combat disease, most fungus-growing ants (Attini) use antibiotics from mutualistic bacteria (Pseudonocardia) that are cultured on the ants' exoskeletons and chemical cocktails from exocrine glands, especially the metapleural glands (MG). Previous work has hypothesized that (i) Pseudonocardia antibiotics are narrow-spectrum and control a fungus (Escovopsis) that parasitizes the ants' fungal s...

A comparative study of exocrine gland chemistry in Trachymyrmex and Sericomyrmex fungus-growing ants

Ants possess many exocrine glands that produce a variety of compounds important for chemical communication. Fungus-growing ants, a tribe of over 230 species within the subfamily Myrmicinae, are unique among ants because they cultivate fungus gardens inside their nests as food. Here the chemistry of the exocrine glands of the two genera most closely related to the conspicuous leaf-cutting ants a...

Antagonistic Bacterial Interactions Help Shape Host-Symbiont Dynamics within the Fungus-Growing Ant-Microbe Mutualism

Conflict within mutually beneficial associations is predicted to destabilize relationships, and theoretical and empirical work exploring this has provided significant insight into the dynamics of cooperative interactions. Within mutualistic associations, the expression and regulation of conflict is likely more complex than in intraspecific cooperative relationship, because of the potential pres...

Convergent coevolution in the domestication of coral mushrooms by fungus-growing ants.

Comparisons of phylogenetic patterns between coevolving symbionts can reveal rich details about the evolutionary history of symbioses. The ancient symbiosis between fungus-growing ants, their fungal cultivars, antibiotic-producing bacteria and cultivar-infecting parasites is dominated by a pattern of parallel coevolution, where the symbionts of each functional group are members of monophyletic ...