Garden microbiomes of Apterostigma dentigerum and Apterostigma pilosum fungus-growing ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

González, Cely T.; Saltonstall, Kristin; Fernández‐Marín, Hermógenes

doi:10.1007/s12275-019-8639-0

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Given their high frequency across sites and species, these bacterial taxa represent the core microbiome of Neotropical water striders. These taxa have also been previously associated with both aquatic and terrestrial insects [ 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 ], suggesting that they are a common component of the microbiome of insects in general, and play important functional roles in their insect hosts [ 3 , 6 , 46 , 52 ]. For example, a recent study found that the genus Wolbachia is widespread in aquatic Hemipteran, including Gerridae, from Southwest Cameroon [ 53 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Microbiome of Neotropical Water Striders and Its Potential Role in Codiversification

Castillo

Saltonstall

Arias

et al. 2020

Insects

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Insects host a highly diverse microbiome, which plays a crucial role in insect life. However, the composition and diversity of microbiomes associated with Neotropical freshwater insects is virtually unknown. In addition, the extent to which diversification of this microbiome is associated with host phylogenetic divergence remains to be determined. Here, we present the first comprehensive analysis of bacterial communities associated with six closely related species of Neotropical water striders in Panama. We used comparative phylogenetic analyses to assess associations between dominant bacterial linages and phylogenetic divergence among species of water striders. We found a total of 806 16S rRNA amplicon sequence variants (ASVs), with dominant bacterial taxa belonging to the phyla Proteobacteria (76.87%) and Tenericutes (19.51%). Members of the α- (e.g., Wolbachia) and γ- (e.g., Acinetobacter, Serratia) Proteobacteria, and Mollicutes (e.g., Spiroplasma) were predominantly shared across species, suggesting the presence of a core microbiome in water striders. However, some bacterial lineages (e.g., Fructobacillus, Fluviicola and Chryseobacterium) were uniquely associated with different water strider species, likely representing a distinctive feature of each species’ microbiome. These findings indicate that both host identity and environmental context are important drivers of microbiome diversity in water striders. In addition, they suggest that diversification of the microbiome is associated with diversification in water striders. Although more research is needed to establish the evolutionary consequences of host-microbiome interaction in water striders, our findings support recent work highlighting the role of bacterial community host-microbiome codiversification.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Microbiome of Neotropical Water Striders and Its Potential Role in Codiversification

Castillo

Saltonstall

Arias

et al. 2020

Insects

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“…Apterostigma dentigerum and A. pilosum are sympatric in central Panamá (Currie et al, 2003;González et al, 2019;Figure 1a veil and are located inside decomposing logs, or under rotten wood on the ground. Both ant species cultivate their fungi on decomposing vegetation, insect detritus and frass (Fernández-Marín et al, 2004;González et al, 2016).…”

Section: Apterostigma Nest Biology Collection and Laboratory Maintenancementioning

confidence: 99%

Disease management in two sympatric Apterostigma fungus‐growing ants for controlling the parasitic fungus Escovopsis

Christopher

Wcislo

Martínez-Luis

et al. 2021

Ecology and Evolution

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“…The significant ecological differences between M. mikromelanos and sympatric leafcutter ants may also have influenced the vertical transmission dynamics of their microbiota. For instance, fungal cultivar clade, ant microbiomes, and preferred forage material are systematically different between M. mikromelanos and the three leafcutter ant species of this study (12,31,57) The ants included in our study cultivate fungi from two sister clades, with the three leafcutter species cultivating a single species, i.e., Leucoagaricus gongylophorus, and M. mikromelanos cultivating a related but undescribed species of fungus (13,58,59). There is some evidence that the relative abundance of bacterial symbionts is dependent on cultivar clade, or vice versa (22,49).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Vertical transmission of fungus-growing ant microbiota is species-specific and constrained by queens

Sadowski,

Sapountzis,

Kooij

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Multipartite symbioses are inherently complex, involving dynamic ecological interactions between organisms with intertwined yet distinct evolutionary histories. The fungus-growing (attine) ants facilitate maintenance of a symbiotic species network through maternal vertical transmission of an obligate fungal symbiont. While the gut microbiomes of fungus-growing ant species are remarkably simple, their fungal gardens support diverse microbial communities. Here, we focus on an understudied transmission bottleneck: the fungal garden pellet that nest-founding queens transfer to inoculate a new fungal garden. We used 16S rRNA metagenomic sequencing to reconstruct the extent of vertical transmission of bacteria to new gardens via queen pellets in four sympatric fungus-growing ant species (Atta sexdens,Atta cephalotes,Acromyrmex echinatior, andMycetomoellerius mikromelanos) from Central Panama. We also characterized the bacterial communities associated with queen eggs and somatic tissues (mesosomas, guts and ovaries) to assess whether queens are likely to transmit symbiotic bacteria of workers, such as cuticular Actinobacteria and endosymbionts (Wolbachia,Mesoplasma, andSpiroplasma). Our results suggest that garden-associated bacteria are mainly horizontally acquired as the bacterial communities of pellets shared few bacterial taxa with the mature gardens of the four ant species investigated. While the bacterial communities of garden pellets showed some species-specificity, a subset of prevalent bacterial taxa were shared across ant species. Further, our findings provide evidence for vertical transmission of species-specific endosymbiotic bacteria through a transovarial route and/or via fecal droplets. Overall, while we found mixed evidence for vertical transmission of garden bacteria, our results support maternal transmission as a primary route for gut-associated symbionts. While our results suggest that vertical transmission of fungus-growing ant bacterial associates is mediated by the ant hosts, the mechanism behind this host control is not yet understood.

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Garden microbiomes of Apterostigma dentigerum and Apterostigma pilosum fungus-growing ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Cited by 7 publications

References 47 publications

The Microbiome of Neotropical Water Striders and Its Potential Role in Codiversification

The Microbiome of Neotropical Water Striders and Its Potential Role in Codiversification

Disease management in two sympatric Apterostigma fungus‐growing ants for controlling the parasitic fungus Escovopsis

Vertical transmission of fungus-growing ant microbiota is species-specific and constrained by queens

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