International Research Fellowship Program: Evolutionary History of the Higher Attine Symbiosis

[0701233]所罗门国际研究奖学金计划使美国科学家和工程师能够在国外进行9到24个月的研究。该计划的奖励为联合研究提供了机会，并利用独特或互补的设施、专业知识和国外的实验条件。该奖项将支持Scott Solomon博士与巴西Esadual保利萨大学的Mauricio Bacci， Jr.博士以及史密森学会的Ted Schultz博士进行为期24个月的研究。高等蚁群共生是一个由四个相互作用的参与者组成的系统：蚁群、真菌品种、真菌寄生虫和细菌。在这一共生关系中，Trachymyrmex蚁属作为众所周知的切叶蚁的近亲占据了关键地位，为我们提供了一个机会：(1)了解切叶蚁的进化起源，(2)在物种水平上阐明四种蚁属共生关系成员之间的共同进化动力学。目前的研究试图通过使用分子遗传技术重建Trachmyrmex抗真菌-细菌共生关系中每个参与者的进化史来实现这些目标。对高等蚂蚁其他成员之间进化关系的研究目前正在进行中，目前的研究结果将与这些正在进行的分析相结合，以提供所有高等蚂蚁的综合进化史。目前现存的42种Trachymyrmex属分布在美国到阿根廷中部，物种多样性最大的是中南美洲的热带地区。外国主办机构，巴西克拉罗的圣保罗大学（UNESP）作为收集巴西以及南美洲其他关键地区的Trachymyrmex殖民地的基地。在寄主机构中维持着活的舌螨菌落，在那里，PI正在指导分离共生真菌和细菌的方法。随后的分子分析将在华盛顿特区的史密森学会进行，该学会将作为重返地球的东道主。

0701233SolomonThe International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct nine to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad.This award will support a twenty-four-month research fellowship by Dr. Scott Solomon to work with Dr. Mauricio Bacci, Jr. at the Universidad Esadual Paulisa in Brazil, and with Dr. Ted Schultz at the Smithsonian Institution.The higher attine symbiosis is a system consisting of four interacting participants: attine ants, a fungal cultivar, a fungal parasite, and a bacterium. Within this symbiosis, the ant genus Trachymyrmex occupies a critical position as the closest living relatives to the well-known leafcutter ants, providing an opportunity to (1) understand the evolutionary origins of the leafcutter ants, and (2) elucidate the co-evolutionary dynamics among the four members of the attine symbiosis at the species level. The current study seeks to accomplish these goals by reconstructing the evolutionary history of each participant in the Trachmyrmex ant-fungus-bacteria symbiosis using molecular genetic techniques. Research on the evolutionary relationships among the other members of the higher attine ants is currently underway, and the results of the current study will be integrated with these ongoing analyses to provide a comprehensive evolutionary history of all higher attines. The 42 current living species within the genus Trachymyrmex are distributed from the United States through central Argentina, with the greatest species diversity occurring in tropical regions of Central and South America. The foreign host institution, the Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) in Rio Claro, Brazil serves as a base for collecting Trachymyrmex colonies throughout Brazil as well as other key locations in South America. Living Trachymyrmex colonies are maintained at the host institution, where the PI is being instructed in methods for isolating the symbiotic fungi and bacteria. Subsequent molecular analyses will take place at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, which serves as the re-entry host.