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Antigua coevolución tripartita en la simbiosis entre hormiga y microbio
Cameron R Currie1, Bess Wong, Alison E Stuart
1Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA. ccurrie@ku.edu
Science (New York, N.Y.)
|January 18, 2003
Resumen
Las hormigas cultivadoras de hongos, sus hongos cultivados y los parásitos microfúngicos participan en 50 millones de años de coevolución tripartita. El cambio de huésped de los parásitos impulsa la coadaptación continua en esta antigua simbiosis.
Área de la Ciencia:
- Ecología Ecología Ecología.
- Biología evolutiva Biología evolutiva.
- La simbiosis es una simbiosis.
Sus antecedentes:
- Las hormigas cultivadoras de hongos cultivan hongos para su sustento, formando una simbiosis crítica.
- Esta relación entre hormigas y hongos tiene una historia de 50 millones de años de coevolución.
- Un tercer socio, los parásitos microfúngicos, también influye en esta simbiosis.
Objetivo del estudio:
- Para investigar la historia coevolucionaria tripartita de las hormigas, sus cultivares de hongos y parásitos microfúngicos.
- Comprender el papel de los parásitos en la configuración de la simbiosis hormiga-hongo a lo largo del tiempo evolutivo.
Principales métodos:
- Se emplearon análisis filogenéticos para reconstruir las historias evolutivas de los tres linajes de simbiontes.
- Se evaluó la congruencia de filogenias en niveles antiguos y recientes.
Principales resultados:
- Los análisis filogenéticos revelaron una congruencia perfecta entre los tres simbiontes en los antiguos niveles evolutivos.
- Esta congruencia indica una relación coevolucionaria tripartita de larga data.
- En niveles recientes, se observó el cambio de huésped de parásitos, lo que lleva a una coadaptación intensificada.
Conclusiones:
- La simbiosis hormiga-hongos está formada por una dinámica coevolucionaria tripartita que involucra hormigas, hongos y parásitos microfúngicos.
- El cambio de huésped impulsado por parásitos alimenta una continua carrera armamentista coevolucionaria, refinando aún más las interacciones entre simbiontes.
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