Diversity of mycobiota in colonies of different species of leaf-cutting ants and sampling sites across Argentina

Diversity of mycobiota in colonies of different species of leaf-cutting ants and sampling sites across Argentina

Attine ants are a monophyletic group comprising more than 230 species, distributed exclusively in the New World. All higher Attini ants depend on the cultivation of fungus gardens for food, and those gardens are continuously exposed to alien microorganisms. The present work describes, for the first time, the composition, relative frequency and the richness of the fungal species comprising the mycobiota from the garden of the most abundant Acromyrmex species from different regions of Argentina. We also compared, using a multivariate approach, the mycobiota composition with the purpose of testing two hypotheses: 1) whether mycobiota is defined by the ant species, or 2) whether mycobiota is determined by the geographical region. We found that each fungal community had a particular composition and abundance: the species that were highly frequent in a community or site, could be rare or altogether absent in another community or site. Species richness, as well as the theoretical maximum richness, also changed with locations. Furthermore, we found that different ant species at the same site had similar mycobiotas, whereas the same ant species in distant locations had only a few fungal species in common. Therefore, we concluded that mycobiota composition changed considerably with geographical site and was not dependent on the ant species. Our results provide an additional understanding of the leaf cutting-ants system, confirming that the garden of leaf cutting ants nests is a complex and dynamic fungal community which is dependent on the site where it was located.DOI: https://doi.org/10.25260/EA.17.27.3.0.488

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Main Authors: Marfetán, Jorge A., Folgarait, Patricia J.
Format: Digital revista
Language:eng
Published: Asociación Argentina de Ecología 2017
Online Access:https://ojs.ecologiaaustral.com.ar/index.php/Ecologia_Austral/article/view/488
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id rev-ecoaus-article-488
record_format ojs
institution AUSTRAL
collection OJS
country Argentina
countrycode AR
component Revista
access En linea
databasecode rev-ecoaus
tag revista
region America del Sur
libraryname Asociación Argentina de Ecología
language eng
format Digital
author Marfetán, Jorge A.
Folgarait, Patricia J.
spellingShingle Marfetán, Jorge A.
Folgarait, Patricia J.
Diversity of mycobiota in colonies of different species of leaf-cutting ants and sampling sites across Argentina
author_facet Marfetán, Jorge A.
Folgarait, Patricia J.
author_sort Marfetán, Jorge A.
title Diversity of mycobiota in colonies of different species of leaf-cutting ants and sampling sites across Argentina
title_short Diversity of mycobiota in colonies of different species of leaf-cutting ants and sampling sites across Argentina
title_full Diversity of mycobiota in colonies of different species of leaf-cutting ants and sampling sites across Argentina
title_fullStr Diversity of mycobiota in colonies of different species of leaf-cutting ants and sampling sites across Argentina
title_full_unstemmed Diversity of mycobiota in colonies of different species of leaf-cutting ants and sampling sites across Argentina
title_sort diversity of mycobiota in colonies of different species of leaf-cutting ants and sampling sites across argentina
description Attine ants are a monophyletic group comprising more than 230 species, distributed exclusively in the New World. All higher Attini ants depend on the cultivation of fungus gardens for food, and those gardens are continuously exposed to alien microorganisms. The present work describes, for the first time, the composition, relative frequency and the richness of the fungal species comprising the mycobiota from the garden of the most abundant Acromyrmex species from different regions of Argentina. We also compared, using a multivariate approach, the mycobiota composition with the purpose of testing two hypotheses: 1) whether mycobiota is defined by the ant species, or 2) whether mycobiota is determined by the geographical region. We found that each fungal community had a particular composition and abundance: the species that were highly frequent in a community or site, could be rare or altogether absent in another community or site. Species richness, as well as the theoretical maximum richness, also changed with locations. Furthermore, we found that different ant species at the same site had similar mycobiotas, whereas the same ant species in distant locations had only a few fungal species in common. Therefore, we concluded that mycobiota composition changed considerably with geographical site and was not dependent on the ant species. Our results provide an additional understanding of the leaf cutting-ants system, confirming that the garden of leaf cutting ants nests is a complex and dynamic fungal community which is dependent on the site where it was located.DOI: https://doi.org/10.25260/EA.17.27.3.0.488
publisher Asociación Argentina de Ecología
publishDate 2017
url https://ojs.ecologiaaustral.com.ar/index.php/Ecologia_Austral/article/view/488
work_keys_str_mv AT marfetanjorgea diversityofmycobiotaincoloniesofdifferentspeciesofleafcuttingantsandsamplingsitesacrossargentina
AT folgaraitpatriciaj diversityofmycobiotaincoloniesofdifferentspeciesofleafcuttingantsandsamplingsitesacrossargentina
AT marfetanjorgea diversidaddemicobiotaendiferentesespeciesdehormigascortadorasdehojasysitiosdeargentina
AT folgaraitpatriciaj diversidaddemicobiotaendiferentesespeciesdehormigascortadorasdehojasysitiosdeargentina
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spelling rev-ecoaus-article-4882023-11-02T20:03:51Z Diversity of mycobiota in colonies of different species of leaf-cutting ants and sampling sites across Argentina Diversidad de micobiota en diferentes especies de hormigas cortadoras de hojas y sitios de Argentina Marfetán, Jorge A. Folgarait, Patricia J. Attine ants are a monophyletic group comprising more than 230 species, distributed exclusively in the New World. All higher Attini ants depend on the cultivation of fungus gardens for food, and those gardens are continuously exposed to alien microorganisms. The present work describes, for the first time, the composition, relative frequency and the richness of the fungal species comprising the mycobiota from the garden of the most abundant Acromyrmex species from different regions of Argentina. We also compared, using a multivariate approach, the mycobiota composition with the purpose of testing two hypotheses: 1) whether mycobiota is defined by the ant species, or 2) whether mycobiota is determined by the geographical region. We found that each fungal community had a particular composition and abundance: the species that were highly frequent in a community or site, could be rare or altogether absent in another community or site. Species richness, as well as the theoretical maximum richness, also changed with locations. Furthermore, we found that different ant species at the same site had similar mycobiotas, whereas the same ant species in distant locations had only a few fungal species in common. Therefore, we concluded that mycobiota composition changed considerably with geographical site and was not dependent on the ant species. Our results provide an additional understanding of the leaf cutting-ants system, confirming that the garden of leaf cutting ants nests is a complex and dynamic fungal community which is dependent on the site where it was located.DOI: https://doi.org/10.25260/EA.17.27.3.0.488 Las hormigas de la familia Attini son un grupo monofilético que incluye más de 230 especies distribuidas exclusivamente en el Nuevo Mundo. Todas las hormigas Attini superiores se alimentan de un hongo que cultivan dentro de sus nidos, y los cultivos de este hongo se encuentran continuamente expuestos a microorganismos exógenos a la colonia. Este trabajo describe por primera vez la composición, la frecuencia relativa y la riqueza de las especies que conforman las micobiotas encontrada en los jardines de las especies del género Acromyrmex más abundantes en diferentes regiones de la Argentina. También comparamos, mediante métodos multivariados, la composición de la micobiota con el propósito de poner a prueba dos hipótesis: 1) la micobiota está definida por las especies de hormigas, o 2) la micobiota cambia en función de la región geográfica. Se pudo observar que cada comunidad fúngica tuvo una composición y una abundancia de especies particular; las especies más frecuentes en un sitio o comunidad fue una especie rara o poco frecuente en otra comunidad o sitio. La riqueza de especies y la riqueza máxima teórica también cambiaron con los sitios. Además, encontramos que diferentes especies de hormigas en el mismo sitio tuvieron micobiotas similares, mientras que las mismas especies de hormigas en locaciones distantes tuvieron sólo unas pocas especies fúngicas en común. Por ello, concluimos que la composición de la micobiota cambia considerablemente con los sitios geográficos y que este cambio no depende de las especies de hormigas. Nuestro resultado provee nueva información sobre las hormigas cortadoras de hojas, y confirma que el jardín de estas hormigas es una comunidad fúngica muy compleja y dinámica.DOI: https://doi.org/10.25260/EA.17.27.3.0.488Foto: De Cppcpp - Trabajo propio, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2923564 Asociación Argentina de Ecología 2017-12-02 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Articles Artículos application/pdf https://ojs.ecologiaaustral.com.ar/index.php/Ecologia_Austral/article/view/488 10.25260/EA.17.27.3.0.488 Ecología Austral; Vol. 27 No. 3 (2017): December 2017. Pages 312-495; 449-461 Ecología Austral; Vol. 27 Núm. 3 (2017): December 2017. Pages 312-495; 449-461 1667-782X 0327-5477 eng https://ojs.ecologiaaustral.com.ar/index.php/Ecologia_Austral/article/view/488/269 Derechos de autor 2017 Jorge A. Marfetán, Patricia J. Folgarait https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

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