Monoculture of Leafcutter Ant Gardens

Página do item simplificado
dc.contributor.authorMueller, Ulrich G.
dc.contributor.authorScott, Jarrod J.
dc.contributor.authorIshak, Heather D.
dc.contributor.authorCooper, Michael
dc.contributor.authorRodrigues, Andre [UNESP]
dc.contributor.institutionUniv Texas Austin
dc.contributor.institutionSmithsonian Trop Res Inst
dc.contributor.institutionUniv Wisconsin
dc.contributor.institutionUniversidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp)
dc.contributor.institutionUniversidade Estadual de Santa Cruz (UESC)
dc.date.accessioned2013-09-30T18:47:40Z
dc.date.accessioned2014-05-20T13:56:32Z
dc.date.available2013-09-30T18:47:40Z
dc.date.available2014-05-20T13:56:32Z
dc.date.issued2010-09-10
dc.description.abstractBackground: Leafcutter ants depend on the cultivation of symbiotic Attamyces fungi for food, which are thought to be grown by the ants in single-strain, clonal monoculture throughout the hundreds to thousands of gardens within a leafcutter nest. Monoculture eliminates cultivar-cultivar competition that would select for competitive fungal traits that are detrimental to the ants, whereas polyculture of several fungi could increase nutritional diversity and disease resistance of genetically variable gardens.Methodology/Principal Findings: Using three experimental approaches, we assessed cultivar diversity within nests of Atta leafcutter ants, which are most likely among all fungus-growing ants to cultivate distinct cultivar genotypes per nest because of the nests' enormous sizes (up to 5000 gardens) and extended lifespans (10-20 years). In Atta texana and in A. cephalotes, we resampled nests over a 5-year period to test for persistence of resident cultivar genotypes within each nest, and we tested for genetic differences between fungi from different nest sectors accessed through excavation. In A. texana, we also determined the number of Attamyces cells carried as a starter inoculum by a dispersing queens (minimally several thousand Attamyces cells), and we tested for genetic differences between Attamyces carried by sister queens dispersing from the same nest. Except for mutational variation arising during clonal Attamyces propagation, DNA fingerprinting revealed no evidence for fungal polyculture and no genotype turnover during the 5-year surveys.Conclusions/Significance: Atta leafcutter ants can achieve stable, fungal monoculture over many years. Mutational variation emerging within an Attamyces monoculture could provide genetic diversity for symbiont choice (gardening biases of the ants favoring specific mutational variants), an analog of artificial selection.en
dc.description.affiliationUniv Texas Austin, Sect Integrat Biol, Austin, TX 78712 USA
dc.description.affiliationSmithsonian Trop Res Inst, Balboa, Ancon, Panama
dc.description.affiliationUniv Wisconsin, Dept Bacteriol, Madison, WI 53706 USA
dc.description.affiliationState Univ São Paulo UNESP, Ctr Study Social Insects, São Paulo, Brazil
dc.description.affiliationSanta Cruz State Univ UESC, Dept Biol Sci, Ilheus, BA, Brazil
dc.description.affiliationUnespState Univ São Paulo UNESP, Ctr Study Social Insects, São Paulo, Brazil
dc.description.sponsorshipNational Science Foundation
dc.description.sponsorshipConselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)
dc.description.sponsorshipIdNSF: DEB-0920138
dc.description.sponsorshipIdNSF: DEB-0639879
dc.description.sponsorshipIdNSF: DEB-0110073
dc.description.sponsorshipIdNSF: DEB-0949689
dc.description.sponsorshipIdCNPq: 02/05
dc.format.extent7
dc.identifierhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0012668
dc.identifier.citationPlos One. San Francisco: Public Library Science, v. 5, n. 9, p. 7, 2010.
dc.identifier.doi10.1371/journal.pone.0012668
dc.identifier.fileWOS000281687300012.pdf
dc.identifier.issn1932-6203
dc.identifier.orcid0000-0002-4164-9362
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11449/20204
dc.identifier.wosWOS:000281687300012
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherPublic Library Science
dc.relation.ispartofPLOS ONE
dc.relation.ispartofjcr2.766
dc.relation.ispartofsjr1,164
dc.rights.accessRightsAcesso aberto
dc.sourceWeb of Science
dc.titleMonoculture of Leafcutter Ant Gardensen
dc.typeArtigo
dcterms.licensehttp://www.plos.org/about/open-access/license/
dcterms.rightsHolderPublic Library Science
unesp.author.lattes8538509657578022[5]
unesp.author.orcid0000-0002-4164-9362[5]

Arquivos

Pacote Original
Agora exibindo 1 - 1 de 1
Imagem de Miniatura
Nome:
WOS000281687300012.pdf
Tamanho:
114.42 KB
Formato:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Baixar
Licença do Pacote
Agora exibindo 1 - 2 de 2
Nenhuma Miniatura disponível
Nome:
license.txt
Tamanho:
1.71 KB
Formato:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Descrição:
Nenhuma Miniatura disponível
Nome:
license.txt
Tamanho:
1.71 KB
Formato:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Descrição:

Coleções

Rio Claro - CEIS - Centro de Estudos de Insetos Sociais