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

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共同的产品，这些产品往往超过部件的总和。例如，生长真菌的蚂蚁为它们的真菌品种提供生长材料、庇护所和对病原体的保护，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。真菌品种从亲代蚁巢转移到后代蚂蚁巢穴，但在极少数情况下，品种也会从一个蚂蚁物种传递到另一个蚂蚁物种，创造出具有新特性和新共同产品的新的蚂蚁-真菌组合。这项建议旨在阐明在自然和实验诱导的抗真菌联合中产生的新的共同产物，重点是不同的抗真菌组合的酶效率、生长速度和健康(病原菌抗性)。因此，该项目阐明了在一个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发生在美国的几种蚂蚁-真菌共生现象，该研究还在教学和推广方面提供了丰富的机会(例如，在公立学校和自然中心举办研讨会)，以促进对学生和公众的教育，使他们了解在当地生物多样性和当地环境中共生的重要性。

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.