Prevalence of the genus Cladosporium on the integument of leaf-cutting ants characterized by 454 pyrosequencing

• Published in: Antonie van Leeuwenhoek Vol. 109; no. 9; pp. 1235 - 1243
• Main Authors: Duarte, A. P. M., Ferro, M., Rodrigues, A., Bacci, M., Nagamoto, N. S., Forti, L. C., Pagnocca, F. C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.09.2016; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Animal populations; Animals; Ants - microbiology; Atta capiguara; Atta laevigata; Biodiversity; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Brazil; Cladosporium; Cladosporium - classification; Cladosporium - genetics; Cladosporium - isolation & purification; Cryptococcus laurentii; DNA, Fungal - genetics; DNA, Ribosomal Spacer - genetics; Epicoccum; Formicidae; Fungi; Insects; Integumentary System - microbiology; Life Sciences; Medical Microbiology; Microbiology; Microorganisms; Mycobiome; Original Paper; Plant Sciences; Prevalence; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Skin - microbiology; Soil Science & Conservation; Symbiosis; Taxa; Taxonomy; Attini ants; ITS; Cuticle; Fungal consortium; Next generation sequencing
• ISSN: 0003-6072; 1572-9699
• DOI: 10.1007/s10482-016-0724-3

The relationship of attine ants with their mutualistic fungus and other microorganisms has been studied during the last two centuries. However, previous studies about the diversity of fungi in the ants’ microenvironment are based mostly on culture-dependent approaches, lacking a broad characterization of the fungal ant-associated community. Here, we analysed the fungal diversity found on the integument of Atta capiguara and Atta laevigata alate ants using 454 pyrosequencing. We obtained 35,453 ITS reads grouped into 99 molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTUs). Data analysis revealed that A. capiguara drones had the highest diversity of MOTUs. Besides the occurrence of several uncultured fungi, the mycobiota analysis revealed that the most abundant taxa were the Cladosporium -complex, C ryptococcus laurentii and Epicoccum sp. Taxa in the genus Cladosporium were predominant in all samples, comprising 67.9 % of all reads. The remarkable presence of the genus Cladosporium on the integument of leaf-cutting ants alates from distinct ant species suggests that this fungus is favored in this microenvironment.