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年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。不同生物体之间的互利联盟为相互作用的生物体产生的共同利益往往超过各部分的总和。 例如，生长真菌的蚂蚁为它们的真菌品种提供生长材料、庇护所和免受病原体侵害的保护，而真菌反过来又是蚂蚁的主要食物来源。 这种真菌还为蚂蚁提供消化酶。 真菌品种从父母的巢穴转移到后代蚁巢，但在罕见的情况下，品种也从一个蚂蚁物种传递到另一个蚂蚁物种，创造新的蚂蚁真菌组合与新的属性和新的共同商品。 该提案旨在阐明自然和实验诱导的蚂蚁真菌协会中产生的新的共同商品，重点关注不同蚂蚁真菌组合的酶效率，生长速率和健康（病原体抗性）。 因此，该项目阐明了在社会共生有机体中管理互惠和合作的一般原则。 由于该项目特别关注美国发生的几种蚂蚁真菌互惠关系，因此该研究也为教学和推广提供了丰富的机会（例如，在公立学校和自然中心举办讲习班），以促进对学生和公众的教育，使他们了解共生在当地生物多样性和当地环境中的重要性。