Physiological constraints of symbiont switching: An experimental study of cultivar fidelity and cultivar re-association in fungus-growing ants

共生体转换的生理限制：真菌生长蚂蚁品种保真度和品种重新关联的实验研究

• 批准号: 0920138
• 负责人: Ulrich Mueller
• 金额: $ 39.86万
• 依托单位: University of Texas at Austin
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-09-01 至 2012-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0920138&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Physiological; constraints; symbiont; switching; experimental

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).Mutualistic alliances between different organisms generate common goods for the interacting organisms that often exceed the sum of the parts. For example, attine fungus-growing ants provide their fungal cultivars with growth material, shelter, and protection from pathogens, while the fungus in turn serves as the ants' main food source. The fungus also provides the ants with digestive enzymes. Fungal cultivars are transferred to offspring ant nests from parental nests, but on rare occasions cultivars are also passed from one ant species to another ant species, creating new ant-fungus combinations with novel properties and novel common goods. This proposal aims to elucidate the novel common goods that are generated in natural and experimentally induced ant-fungus associations, focusing on enzyme efficiency, growth rate, and health (pathogen resistance) of different ant-fungus combinations. The project therefore elucidates general principles governing mutualism and cooperation in a social, symbiotic organism. Because the project focuses specifically on several ant-fungus mutualisms occurring in the USA, the research also presents rich opportunities in teaching and outreach (e.g., workshops at public schools and nature centers) to promote education of students and the public on the importance of symbiosis in local biodiversity and local environments.

该奖项是根据2009年的《美国回收与再投资法》（公法111-5）资助的。不同生物之间的态度联盟为通常超过零件总和的相互作用生物生成了共同商品。 例如，Attine Fungus种植的蚂蚁为其真菌品种提供了生长材料，庇护所和防止病原体的保护，而真菌又作为蚂蚁的主要食物来源。 真菌还为蚂蚁提供了消化酶。 真菌品种从父母巢中转移到后代蚂蚁巢中，但是在极少数情况下，品种也从一种蚂蚁物种传递到了另一种蚂蚁物种，从而与新型特性和新型普通商品产生了新的蚂蚁 - 脉冲组合。 该提案旨在阐明在自然和实验诱导的蚂蚁脉冲关联中产生的新型普通商品，重点是不同蚂蚁 - 脉冲组合的酶效率，生长速率和健康（病原体耐药性）。 因此，该项目阐明了有关社会共生生物体中共同性和合作的一般原则。 由于该项目专门针对美国发生的几种蚂蚁 - 脉络互助，因此该研究还为教学和外展（例如，公立学校和自然中心的研讨会）提供了丰富的机会，以促进对学生和公众对当地生物多样性和地方环境的重要性的教育。