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Microbiota of Attine Ants' Gardens: Visualizing a Microbial Landscape by Scanning Electron Microscopy
Published on: October 4, 2024
620
Microbial symbionts are shared between ants and their associated beetles
Catalina Valdivia1, Justin A Newton2, Christoph von Beeren3,4
1Institute of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland.
Environmental Microbiology
|November 16, 2023
Summary
Army ants and their insect guests share microbial symbionts, challenging previous assumptions. Versatile bacteria like Weissella can transmit across diverse hosts and environments, revealing complex microbial dynamics.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Evolutionary Biology
- Ecology
Background:
- Microbial symbiont transmission across species influences animal biology and evolution.
- Army ants and their associated myrmecophile insects offer a model system for studying interspecific microbial sharing.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the microbiota of army ants (Eciton burchellii) and their myrmecophile beetle guests.
- To investigate patterns of microbial symbiont transmission between interacting insect species.
Main Methods:
- 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing was used to analyze bacterial communities in ant workers, larvae, and 13 myrmecophile beetle species.
- Protein-coding gene sequences were analyzed to confirm relationships between specific bacterial strains.
Main Results:
- Specialized bacterial symbionts of adult army ants were largely absent in larvae and myrmecophiles.
- Microbial communities in ant larvae and myrmecophiles were dominated by Rickettsia, Wolbachia, Rickettsiella, and Weissella.
- Identical 16S rRNA genotypes of these bacteria were frequently shared among different myrmecophile species and ant larvae.
- Weissella strains showed close relationships across ant larvae, some workers, and myrmecophiles, and were similar to strains found in trout and whales.
Conclusions:
- Closely interacting insect species can share a significant portion of their microbiota.
- Certain versatile bacterial species, such as Weissella, can inhabit and potentially transmit across a wide range of hosts and environments.
- This study highlights the dynamic nature of microbial symbiont sharing in ecological communities.
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