Ants Disinfect Fungus-Exposed Brood by Oral Uptake and Spread of Their Poison
Ants Disinfect Fungus-Exposed Brood by Oral Uptake and Spread of Their Poison
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DOI：
10.1016/j.cub.2012.11.034
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发表时间：
2013-01-07
期刊：
影响因子：
9.2
通讯作者：
Cremer, Sylvia
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Tragust, Simon;Mitteregger, Barbara;Cremer, Sylvia
为了对抗传染病，在多个层面上采用宿主免疫防御。卫生行为，例如避免和清除病原体，是在生理免疫系统激活之前预防感染的第一道防线[1]。昆虫社会已经针对暴露于病原体的群体成员制定了广泛的集体卫生措施和强化医疗保健[2]。最常见的行为之一是异体梳理，即巢友从暴露个体的体表去除传染性颗粒[3]。在这里，我们表明，在入侵的花园蚂蚁中，对暴露于真菌的幼蚁进行梳理比纯粹机械去除真菌分生孢子更有效。它还包括通过使用蚂蚁本身产生的毒药进行化学消毒。甲酸是该毒物的主要活性成分。它抑制梳理后留在巢表面的分生孢子的真菌生长以及那些收集在梳理蚂蚁口中的分生孢子的真菌生长。这种双重功能是通过酸孔自我修饰将毒滴吸入口中并随后通过育雏修饰应用于传染性育雏来实现的。这种非凡的行为扩展了目前对昆虫社会中梳理毛发和建立社会免疫力的理解。
To fight infectious diseases, host immune defenses are employed at multiple levels. Sanitary behavior, such as pathogen avoidance and removal, acts as a first line of defense to prevent infection [1] before activation of the physiological immune system. Insect societies have evolved a wide range of collective hygiene measures and intensive health care toward pathogen-exposed group members [2]. One of the most common behaviors is allogrooming, in which nestmates remove infectious particles from the body surfaces of exposed individuals [3]. Here we show that, in invasive garden ants, grooming of fungus-exposed brood is effective beyond the sheer mechanical removal of fungal conidiospores; it also includes chemical disinfection through the application of poison produced by the ants themselves. Formic acid is the main active component of the poison. It inhibits fungal growth of conidiospores remaining on the brood surface after grooming and also those collected in the mouth of the grooming ant. This dual function is achieved by uptake of the poison droplet into the mouth through acidopore self-grooming and subsequent application onto the infectious brood via brood grooming. This extraordinary behavior extends the current understanding of grooming and the establishment of social immunity in insect societies.