Highly similar microbial communities are shared among related and trophically similar ant species
Highly similar microbial communities are shared among related and trophically similar ant species
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DOI：
10.1111/j.1365-294x.2011.05464.x
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发表时间：
2012-05-01
影响因子：
4.9
通讯作者：
Wheeler, Diana E.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Anderson, Kirk E.;Russell, Jacob A.;Wheeler, Diana E.
蚂蚁在许多陆地生态系统中占主导地位，但我们对它们的营养生理学和生态学知之甚少。虽然传统上被视为捕食者和食腐动物，但最近的同位素研究表明，许多占优势的蚂蚁物种是功能性食草动物。与其他缺乏氮的昆虫一样，假设这些蚂蚁依靠共生细菌来补充营养。在这项研究中，我们使用克隆和16 S测序，以进一步表征细菌植物群的几个食草蚂蚁，同时也研究了β多样性的细菌群落内和不同营养水平的蚂蚁物种之间。通过估计这些社区之间的系统发育重叠，我们测试的假设，生态或遗传相似的蚂蚁群体窝藏相似的微生物植物群。我们的研究结果显示：（i）捕食性蚂蚁和草食性蚂蚁的细菌群落存在明显差异;（ii）远亲草食性蚂蚁群落之间存在显著相似性;（iii）不同捕食性蚂蚁物种共享相似群落。专注于一个食草性的蚂蚁部落，Cearantini，我们检测到五个主要的细菌分类群，可能代表了核心微生物群。细菌亲戚的代谢功能表明，这些微生物可能在固定，回收或升级氮中发挥作用。总的来说，我们的研究结果表明，类似的微生物群落是由类似的营养生态位的蚂蚁，并在更大程度上，由相关的蚂蚁从相同的殖民地，物种，属，和部落。这些趋势暗示了蚂蚁和微生物之间的共同进化历史，表明细菌在蚂蚁家族蚁科的食草动物和食肉动物的进化中扮演新的角色。
Ants dominate many terrestrial ecosystems, yet we know little about their nutritional physiology and ecology. While traditionally viewed as predators and scavengers, recent isotopic studies revealed that many dominant ant species are functional herbivores. As with other insects with nitrogen-poor diets, it is hypothesized that these ants rely on symbiotic bacteria for nutritional supplementation. In this study, we used cloning and 16S sequencing to further characterize the bacterial flora of several herbivorous ants, while also examining the beta diversity of bacterial communities within and between ant species from different trophic levels. Through estimating phylogenetic overlap between these communities, we tested the hypothesis that ecologically or phylogenetically similar groups of ants harbor similar microbial flora. Our findings reveal: (i) clear differences in bacterial communities harbored by predatory and herbivorous ants; (ii) notable similarities among communities from distantly related herbivorous ants and (iii) similar communities shared by different predatory army ant species. Focusing on one herbivorous ant tribe, the Cephalotini, we detected five major bacterial taxa that likely represent the core microbiota. Metabolic functions of bacterial relatives suggest that these microbes may play roles in fixing, recycling, or upgrading nitrogen. Overall, our findings reveal that similar microbial communities are harbored by ants from similar trophic niches and, to a greater extent, by related ants from the same colonies, species, genera, and tribes. These trends hint at coevolved histories between ants and microbes, suggesting new possibilities for roles of bacteria in the evolution of both herbivores and carnivores from the ant family Formicidae.