Novel fungal disease in complex leaf-cutting ant societies
Novel fungal disease in complex leaf-cutting ant societies
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DOI：
10.1111/j.1365-2311.2008.01066.x
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发表时间：
2009-04-01
影响因子：
2.2
通讯作者：
Armitage, Sophie A. O.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Hughes, David P.;Evans, Harry C.;Armitage, Sophie A. O.
1.切叶蚁有一套先进的食菌系统，它们种植真菌作为食物来源。由于寄生虫对作物的威胁，他们已经进化出一套形态、行为和化学防御系统，特别是针对真菌病原体（真菌病原体）。切叶蚁自身的特定真菌疾病尚未被描述，可能是因为针对真菌病原体的广谱抗真菌防御降低了切叶蚁对昆虫病原体的易感性。利用形态学和分子生物学的手段，本研究记录了三个罕见的感染事件Acromyrmex和Atta切叶蚁的Ophiocorphic真菌，一个昆虫病原菌属，通常是高度特异性的寄主选择.由于切叶蚁已被深入研究，没有先前的记录表明，这些感染可能是一个新的事件，并从一个主机切换到另一个是可能的。为了验证这一假设的可能性，在五种不同的蚂蚁属中，通过实验诱导并成功实现了宿主转换，其中一种蚂蚁与切叶蚁属于不同的亚科。鉴于五个主机蚂蚁之间的实质性差异，Ophiocorphic的能力，这样遥远的主机之间的转换是显着的，结果进行了讨论的背景下，蚂蚁生态免疫学和真菌入侵策略。
1. The leaf-cutting ants practise an advanced system of mycophagy where they grow a fungus as a food source. As a consequence of parasite threats to their crops, they have evolved a system of morphological, behavioural, and chemical defences, particularly against fungal pathogens (mycopathogens).2. Specific fungal diseases of the leaf-cutting ants themselves have not been described, possibly because broad spectrum anti-fungal defences against mycopathogens have reduced their susceptibility to entomopathogens.3. Using morphological and molecular tools, the present study documents three rare infection events of Acromyrmex and Atta leaf-cutting ants by Ophiocordyceps fungi, a genus of entomopathogens that is normally highly specific in its host choice.4. As leaf-cutting ants have been intensively studied, the absence of prior records of Ophiocordyceps suggests that these infections may be a novel event and that switching from one host to another is possible. To test the likelihood of this hypothesis, host switching was experimentally induced, and successfully achieved, among five distinct genera of ants, one of which was in a different sub-family than the leaf-cutter ants.5. Given the substantial differences among the five host ants, the ability of Ophiocordyceps to shift between such distant hosts is remarkable; the results are discussed in the context of ant ecological immunology and fungal invasion strategies.