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Mendes TD, Rodrigues A, Dayo-Owoyemi I, et al. Generation of Nutrients and Detoxification: Possible Roles of Yeasts in Leaf-Cutting Ant Nests. Insects. 2012;3(1):228-45doi: 10.3390/insects3010228.
Mendes, T. D., Rodrigues, A., Dayo-Owoyemi, I., Marson, F. A., & Pagnocca, F. C. (2012). Generation of Nutrients and Detoxification: Possible Roles of Yeasts in Leaf-Cutting Ant Nests. Insects, 3(1), 228-45. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects3010228
Mendes, Thais D, et al. "Generation of Nutrients and Detoxification: Possible Roles of Yeasts in Leaf-Cutting Ant Nests." Insects vol. 3,1 (2012): 228-45. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/insects3010228
Mendes TD, Rodrigues A, Dayo-Owoyemi I, Marson FA, Pagnocca FC. Generation of Nutrients and Detoxification: Possible Roles of Yeasts in Leaf-Cutting Ant Nests. Insects. 2012 Feb 17;3(1):228-45. doi: 10.3390/insects3010228. PMID: 26467957; PMCID: PMC4553625.
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Insects. 2012 Feb 17;3(1):228-45. doi: 10.3390/insects3010228.

Generation of Nutrients and Detoxification: Possible Roles of Yeasts in Leaf-Cutting Ant Nests.

Insects

Thais D Mendes, André Rodrigues, Ifeloju Dayo-Owoyemi, Fernando A L Marson, Fernando C Pagnocca

Affiliations

  1. EMBRAPA-Agroenergy/Parque Estação Biológica, Brasília, DF 70770-901, Brazil. [email protected].
  2. Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, UNESP-São Paulo State University, Rio Claro, SP 13506-900, Brazil. [email protected].
  3. Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, UNESP-São Paulo State University, Rio Claro, SP 13506-900, Brazil. [email protected].
  4. Centre for the Study of Social Insects, UNESP-São Paulo State University, Rio Claro, SP 13506-900, Brazil. [email protected].
  5. Centre for the Study of Social Insects, UNESP-São Paulo State University, Rio Claro, SP 13506-900, Brazil. [email protected].
  6. Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, UNESP-São Paulo State University, Rio Claro, SP 13506-900, Brazil. [email protected].
  7. Centre for the Study of Social Insects, UNESP-São Paulo State University, Rio Claro, SP 13506-900, Brazil. [email protected].

PMID: 26467957 PMCID: PMC4553625 DOI: 10.3390/insects3010228

Abstract

The possible roles played by yeasts in attine ant nests are mostly unknown. Here we present our investigations on the plant polysaccharide degradation profile of 82 yeasts isolated from fungus gardens of Atta and Acromyrmex species to demonstrate that yeasts found in ant nests may play the role of making nutrients readily available throughout the garden and detoxification of compounds that may be deleterious to the ants and their fungal cultivar. Among the yeasts screened, 65% exhibited cellulolytic enzymes, 44% exhibited pectinolytic activity while 27% and 17% possess enzyme systems for the degradation of protease and amylase, respectively. Galacturonic acid, which had been reported in previous work to be poorly assimilated by the ant fungus and also to have a negative effect on ants' survival, was assimilated by 64% and 79% of yeasts isolated from nests of A. texana and Acromyrmex respectively. Our results suggest that yeasts found in ant nests may participate in generation of nutrients and removal of potentially toxic compounds, thereby contributing to the stability of the complex microbiota found in the leaf-cutting ant nests.

Keywords: Attini; fungi; metabolism; polysaccharidases

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