| [bacteriological inhibition in the nests of acromyrmex octospinosus reich]. | media prepared from nests of acromyrmex octospinosus reich show an inhibiting activity against strains of bacteria gram + and gram -. to demonstrate this activity it is necessary to use a particular methodology using important concentration of extract (mass effect). the main reason of the inhibition is due to the acidity of ph (ph = 5.0). this effect explains how the ants protect their nest against the bacterial competitors. | 1982 | 7172361 |
| candicidin-producing streptomyces support leaf-cutting ants to protect their fungus garden against the pathogenic fungus escovopsis. | leaf-cutting ants such as acromyrmex octospinosus live in obligate symbiosis with fungi of the genus leucoagaricus, which they grow with harvested leaf material. the symbiotic fungi, in turn, serve as a major food source for the ants. this mutualistic relation is disturbed by the specialized pathogenic fungus escovopsis sp., which can overcome leucoagaricus sp. and thus destroy the ant colony. microbial symbionts of leaf-cutting ants have been suggested to protect the fungus garden against escov ... | 2009 | 19270078 |
| hygienic behavior, liquid-foraging, and trophallaxis in the leaf-cutting ants, acromyrmex subterraneus and acromyrmex octospinosus. | neotropical leaf-cutting ants (tribe attini) live in obligate symbiosis with fungus they culture for food. to protect themselves and their fungus garden from pathogens, they minimize the entry of microorganisms through mechanical and chemical means. in this study, focusing on the species acromyrmex subterraneus and a. octospinosus, (hymeoptera: formicidae). self- and allo-grooming behavior were quantified and it was found that a. octospinosus workers spend less time in self-grooming than a. subt ... | 2009 | 20053118 |
| draft genome sequence of streptomyces strain s4, a symbiont of the leaf-cutting ant acromyrmex octospinosus. | streptomyces spp. are common symbionts of the leaf-cutting ant species acromyrmex octospinosus, which feeds on basidiomycete fungus leaf matter and harvests the lipid- and carbohydrate-rich gongylidia as a food source. a. octospinosus and other ant genera use antifungal compounds produced by streptomyces spp. and other actinomycetes in order to help defend their fungal gardens from parasitic fungi. herein, we report the draft genome sequence of streptomyces strain s4, an antifungal-producing sym ... | 2011 | 21685285 |
| Acromyrmex octospinosus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) management. Part 1: Effects of TRAMIL's insecticidal plant extracts. | BACKGROUND: Leaf-cutting ants are considered to be one of the most important pest species of the New World. Until now, control strategies against these leaf-cutting ants have mainly been synthetic chemicals. The aim of the present study was to test the action of several plant extracts quoted as an example by TRAMIL participative surveys for their insecticidal properties on adult major workers of Acromyrmex octospinosus. Three tests were used to that end: contact toxicity, repellent test and inge ... | 2011 | 21858911 |
| a mutualistic microbiome: how do fungus-growing ants select their antibiotic-producing bacteria? | we recently published a paper titled "a mixed community of actinomycetes produce multiple antibiotics for the fungus farming ant acromyrmex octospinosus" showing that attine ants use multidrug therapy to maintain their fungal cultivars. this paper tested two theories that have been put forward to explain how attine ants establish mutualism with actinomycete symbionts: environmental acquisition versus co-evolution. we found good evidence for environmental acquisition, in agreement with other rece ... | 2011 | 21509175 |
| kin-informative recognition cues in ants. | although social groups are characterized by cooperation, they are also often the scene of conflict. in non-clonal systems, the reproductive interests of group members will differ and individuals may benefit by exploiting the cooperative efforts of other group members. however, such selfish behaviour is thought to be rare in one of the classic examples of cooperation-social insect colonies-because the colony-level costs of individual selfishness select against cues that would allow workers to rec ... | 2010 | 21123270 |
| a mixed community of actinomycetes produce multiple antibiotics for the fungus farming ant acromyrmex octospinosus. | attine ants live in an intensely studied tripartite mutualism with the fungus leucoagaricus gongylophorus, which provides food to the ants, and with antibiotic-producing actinomycete bacteria. one hypothesis suggests that bacteria from the genus pseudonocardia are the sole, co-evolved mutualists of attine ants and are transmitted vertically by the queens. a recent study identified a pseudonocardia-produced antifungal, named dentigerumycin, associated with the lower attine apterostigma dentigerum ... | 2010 | 20796277 |
| caste-specific expression of genetic variation in the size of antibiotic-producing glands of leaf-cutting ants. | social insect castes represent some of the most spectacular examples of phenotypic plasticity, with each caste being associated with different environmental conditions during their life. here we examine the level of genetic variation in different castes of two polyandrous species of acromyrmex leaf-cutting ant for the antibiotic-producing metapleural gland, which has a major role in defence against parasites. gland size increases allometrically. the small workers that play the main role in disea ... | 2010 | 19864289 |
| non-specific association between filamentous bacteria and fungus-growing ants. | fungus-growing ants and their fungal cultivar form a highly evolved mutualism that is negatively affected by the specialized parasitic fungus escovopsis. filamentous pseudonocardia bacteria occurring on the cuticle of attine ants have been proposed to form a mutualistic interaction with these ants in which they are vertically transmitted (i.e. from parent to offspring colonies). given a strictly vertical transmission of pseudonocardia, the evolutionary theory predicts a reduced genetic variabili ... | 2007 | 17541536 |
| specificity of the mutualistic association between actinomycete bacteria and two sympatric species of acromyrmex leaf-cutting ants. | acromyrmex leaf-cutting ants maintain two highly specialized, vertically transmitted mutualistic ectosymbionts: basidiomycete fungi that are cultivated for food in underground gardens and actinomycete pseudonocardia bacteria that are reared on the cuticle to produce antibiotics that suppress the growth of escovopsis parasites of the fungus garden. mutualism stability has been hypothesized to benefit from genetic uniformity of symbionts, as multiple coexisting strains are expected to compete and, ... | 2005 | 16156826 |
| the effect of metapleural gland secretion on the growth of a mutualistic bacterium on the cuticle of leaf-cutting ants. | in acromyrmex octospinosus leaf-cutting ants the metapleural glands produce an array of antibiotic compounds that serve as a general defence against unwanted microbes on the cuticle. leaf-cutting ants also grow mutualistic pseudonocardiaceae bacteria on their cuticle that produce antibiotics controlling a microfungal parasite of their fungus gardens. interaction between this bacterium and gland secretion therefore seems unavoidable. we document the typical development of bacterial growth on the ... | 2003 | 14504783 |
| [preliminary serological study of fungus cultivated by the manioc ant acromyrmex octospinosus reich in guadeloupe]. | the serologic study of four strains of fungus cultivated by acromyrmex octospinosus (reich) in guadeloupe has revealed four major antigens common to all four strains. two additional weaker antigens were present in some but not all strains, which may indicate quantitative differences in viral particles in the hyphae of the fungi. the use of serological techniques should facilitate taxonomic study of the fungi (and possibly the virus or viruses which parasitize the fungi) cultivated by different s ... | 1981 | 6788387 |
| [pathogenicity of entomophthora coronata cost. kervork. for the guadeloupe parasol-ant: acromyrmex octospinosus (formicidae, attini)]. | | 1975 | 1211770 |
| attine fungus gardens contain yeasts. | yeasts were detected in the fungus gardens of atta cephalotes and acromyrmex octospinosus by scanning electron microscopy and by microbiological techniques. | 1970 | 5427351 |
| [microbiological activity in the nests of acromyrmex octospinosus reich in guadeloupe]. | the nests of acromyrmex octospinosus contain an important bacterial flora which shows a state of equilibrium; that is the result of the society activity. the ant-fungi directly grows on the leaf material brought in the nest; the microorganisms do not modify the substrate. acromyrmex octospinosus is able to allow the growth of its fungus in pure culture in the presence of invading microflora. | 2013 | 7172360 |
| trail pheromone of the leaf-cutting ant,acromyrmex octospinosus (reich), (formicidae: myrmicinae). | the most active component of the trail pheromone of the leafcutting ant,acromyrmex octospinosus, is methyl 4-methylpyrrole-2-carboxylate (i). two pyrazine isomers (ii) and (iii) are present but inactive. | 1982 | 24413906 |
| trail pheromone of the leaf-cutting ant,acromyrmex octospinosus (reich), (formicidae: myrmicinae). | | 1983 | 24408858 |
| comparative deterrency of two terpenoids to two genera of attine ants. | caryophyllene and caryophyllene epoxide are two terpenoids found in neotropical plants and known to be deterrent to leafcutter ants. to estimate the variation in deterrent activity of these compounds toward the generaatta andacromyrmex, behavioral bioassays were conducted over a range of concentrations. the responses of four captive colonies ofatta cephalotes and two captive colonies ofacromyrmex octospinosus, all from a single locality in costa rica, were studied. although specific patterns of ... | 1989 | 24272417 |
| forager size and ecology of acromyrmex coronatus and other leaf-cutting ants in costa rica. | i compare forager size and foraging ecology of the leaf-cutting ant acromyrmex coronatus (fabricius) with published data on three other leaf-cutter species in costa rica, atta cephalotes (l.), acromyrmex octospinosus (reich), and acromyrmex volcanus wheeler. intra-and interspecific differences in forager size in these leaf-cutting ants appear to reflect the economics of harvesting different preferred resources. ac. coronatus colonies have relatively small foragers (mean mass=3.4±1.4 mg) that cut ... | 1995 | 28307655 |
| dynamic wolbachia prevalence in acromyrmex leaf-cutting ants: potential for a nutritional symbiosis. | wolbachia are renowned as reproductive parasites, but their phenotypic effects in eusocial insects are not well understood. we used a combination of qrt-pcr, fluorescence in situ hybridization and laser scanning confocal microscopy to evaluate the dynamics of wolbachia infections in the leaf-cutting ant acromyrmex octospinosus across developmental stages of sterile workers. we confirm that workers are infected with one or two widespread wsp genotypes of wolbachia, show that colony prevalence is ... | 2012 | 22530696 |
| locomotion on a slope in leaf-cutter ants: metabolic energy use, behavioural adaptations and the implications for route selection on hilly terrain. | the metabolic cost of the negotiation of obstacles, and the influence that this has on route selection, are important determinants of an animal's locomotor behaviour. we determined the gross metabolic cost of locomotion on slopes of different gradients, ranging from -90 to +90 deg, in leaf-cutter ants (acromyrmex octospinosus) in a closed-circuit respirometry system. ants were able to select their preferred speed for each gradient. the gross metabolic energy expenditure per unit distance travell ... | 2012 | 22786630 |
| isolating antifungals from fungus-growing ant symbionts using a genome-guided chemistry approach. | we describe methods used to isolate and identify antifungal compounds from actinomycete strains associated with the leaf-cutter ant acromyrmex octospinosus. these ants use antibiotics produced by symbiotic actinomycete bacteria to protect themselves and their fungal cultivar against bacterial and fungal infections. the fungal cultivar serves as the sole food source for the ant colony, which can number up to tens of thousands of individuals. we describe how we isolate bacteria from leaf-cutter an ... | 2012 | 23084933 |
| chemical disguise of myrmecophilous cockroaches and its implications for understanding nestmate recognition mechanisms in leaf-cutting ants. | cockroaches of the genus attaphila regularly occur in leaf-cutting ant colonies. the ants farm a fungus that the cockroaches also appear to feed on. cockroaches disperse between colonies horizontally (via foraging trails) and vertically (attached to queens on their mating flights). we analysed the chemical strategies used by the cockroaches to integrate into colonies of atta colombica and acromyrmex octospinosus. analysing cockroaches from nests of two host species further allowed us to test the ... | 2016 | 27495227 |
| genome analysis of two pseudonocardia phylotypes associated with acromyrmex leafcutter ants reveals their biosynthetic potential. | the attine ants of south and central america are ancient farmers, having evolved a symbiosis with a fungal food crop >50 million years ago. the most evolutionarily derived attines are the atta and acromyrmex leafcutter ants, which harvest fresh leaves to feed their fungus. acromyrmex and many other attines vertically transmit a mutualistic strain of pseudonocardia and use antifungal compounds made by these bacteria to protect their fungal partner against co-evolved fungal pathogens of the genus ... | 2016 | 28082956 |
| acromyrmex octospinosus (hymenoptera: formicidae) management: effects of tramils fungicidal plant extracts. | leaf-cutting ants, acromyrmex octospinosus (reich), are considering among the most important pest species of the new world. until now, the main insecticides used for controlling these ants were synthetic chemicals. leaf-cutting ants live in obligate symbiosis with abasidiomycete fungus, leucocoprinus gongylophorus (heim) moeller. the crucial role of this symbiotic partner in the nest of leaf-cutting ants has prompted us to focus on a. octospinosus management through the use of fungicides in our ... | 2012 | 22928301 |
| A single Streptomyces symbiont makes multiple antifungals to support the fungus farming ant Acromyrmex octospinosus. | Attine ants are dependent on a cultivated fungus for food and use antibiotics produced by symbiotic Actinobacteria as weedkillers in their fungus gardens. Actinobacterial species belonging to the genera Pseudonocardia, Streptomyces and Amycolatopsis have been isolated from attine ant nests and shown to confer protection against a range of microfungal weeds. In previous work on the higher attine Acromyrmex octospinosus we isolated a Streptomyces strain that produces candicidin, consistent with an ... | 2011 | 21857911 |
| the effects of age and social interactions on innate immunity in a leaf-cutting ant. | both developmental and environmental factors shape investment in costly immune defences. social insect workers have different selection pressures on their innate immune system compared to non-social insects because workers do not reproduce and their longevity affects the fitness of relatives. furthermore, hygienic behavioural defences found in social insects can result in increased survival after fungal infection, although it is not known if there is modulation in physiological immune defence as ... | 2010 | 20138051 |