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Leaf-cutter ants – mycorrhizal fungi: observations and research questions from an unexpected mutualism

Leaf-cutter ants (LCAs) are widely distributed and alter the physical and biotic architecture above and below ground. In neotropical rainforests, they create aboveground and belowground disturbance gaps that facilitate oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange. Within the hyperdiverse neotropical rainfores...

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Autores principales: Allen, Michael F., Shulman, Hannah, Rundel, Philip W., Harmon, Thomas C., Aronson, Emma L.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10687443/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/38033376
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/ffunb.2023.1241916
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author Allen, Michael F.
Shulman, Hannah
Rundel, Philip W.
Harmon, Thomas C.
Aronson, Emma L.
author_facet Allen, Michael F.
Shulman, Hannah
Rundel, Philip W.
Harmon, Thomas C.
Aronson, Emma L.
author_sort Allen, Michael F.
collection PubMed
description Leaf-cutter ants (LCAs) are widely distributed and alter the physical and biotic architecture above and below ground. In neotropical rainforests, they create aboveground and belowground disturbance gaps that facilitate oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange. Within the hyperdiverse neotropical rainforests, arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi occupy nearly all of the forest floor. Nearly every cubic centimeter of soil contains a network of hyphae of Glomeromycotina, fungi that form arbuscular mycorrhizae. Our broad question is as follows: how can alternative mycorrhizae, which are—especially ectomycorrhizae—essential for the survival of some plant species, become established? Specifically, is there an ant–mycorrhizal fungus interaction that facilitates their establishment in these hyperdiverse ecosystems? In one lowland Costa Rican rainforest, nests of the LCA Atta cephalotes cover approximately 1.2% of the land surface that is broadly scattered throughout the forest. On sequencing the DNA from soil organisms, we found the inocula of many AM fungi in their nests, but the nests also contained the inocula of ectomycorrhizal, orchid mycorrhizal, and ericoid mycorrhizal fungi, including Scleroderma sinnamariense, a fungus critical to Gnetum leyboldii, an obligate ectomycorrhizal plant. When the nests were abandoned, new root growth into the nest offered opportunities for new mycorrhizal associations to develop. Thus, the patches created by LCAs appear to be crucial sites for the establishment and survival of shifting mycorrhizal plant–fungal associations, in turn facilitating the high diversity of these communities. A better understanding of the interactions of organisms, including cross-kingdom and ant–mycorrhizal fungal interactions, would improve our understanding of how these ecosystems might tolerate environmental change.
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spelling pubmed-106874432023-11-30 Leaf-cutter ants – mycorrhizal fungi: observations and research questions from an unexpected mutualism Allen, Michael F. Shulman, Hannah Rundel, Philip W. Harmon, Thomas C. Aronson, Emma L. Front Fungal Biol Fungal Biology Leaf-cutter ants (LCAs) are widely distributed and alter the physical and biotic architecture above and below ground. In neotropical rainforests, they create aboveground and belowground disturbance gaps that facilitate oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange. Within the hyperdiverse neotropical rainforests, arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi occupy nearly all of the forest floor. Nearly every cubic centimeter of soil contains a network of hyphae of Glomeromycotina, fungi that form arbuscular mycorrhizae. Our broad question is as follows: how can alternative mycorrhizae, which are—especially ectomycorrhizae—essential for the survival of some plant species, become established? Specifically, is there an ant–mycorrhizal fungus interaction that facilitates their establishment in these hyperdiverse ecosystems? In one lowland Costa Rican rainforest, nests of the LCA Atta cephalotes cover approximately 1.2% of the land surface that is broadly scattered throughout the forest. On sequencing the DNA from soil organisms, we found the inocula of many AM fungi in their nests, but the nests also contained the inocula of ectomycorrhizal, orchid mycorrhizal, and ericoid mycorrhizal fungi, including Scleroderma sinnamariense, a fungus critical to Gnetum leyboldii, an obligate ectomycorrhizal plant. When the nests were abandoned, new root growth into the nest offered opportunities for new mycorrhizal associations to develop. Thus, the patches created by LCAs appear to be crucial sites for the establishment and survival of shifting mycorrhizal plant–fungal associations, in turn facilitating the high diversity of these communities. A better understanding of the interactions of organisms, including cross-kingdom and ant–mycorrhizal fungal interactions, would improve our understanding of how these ecosystems might tolerate environmental change. Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-11-16 /pmc/articles/PMC10687443/ /pubmed/38033376 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/ffunb.2023.1241916 Text en Copyright © 2023 Allen, Shulman, Rundel, Harmon and Aronson https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Fungal Biology
Allen, Michael F.
Shulman, Hannah
Rundel, Philip W.
Harmon, Thomas C.
Aronson, Emma L.
Leaf-cutter ants – mycorrhizal fungi: observations and research questions from an unexpected mutualism
title Leaf-cutter ants – mycorrhizal fungi: observations and research questions from an unexpected mutualism
title_full Leaf-cutter ants – mycorrhizal fungi: observations and research questions from an unexpected mutualism
title_fullStr Leaf-cutter ants – mycorrhizal fungi: observations and research questions from an unexpected mutualism
title_full_unstemmed Leaf-cutter ants – mycorrhizal fungi: observations and research questions from an unexpected mutualism
title_short Leaf-cutter ants – mycorrhizal fungi: observations and research questions from an unexpected mutualism
title_sort leaf-cutter ants – mycorrhizal fungi: observations and research questions from an unexpected mutualism
topic Fungal Biology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10687443/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/38033376
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/ffunb.2023.1241916
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