Chemical and biological studies of symbiotic bacteria isolated from Atta sexdens rubropilosa

• Grant number: 14/24330-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: March 01, 2015
• End date: February 29, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Organic Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Mônica Tallarico Pupo
• Grantee: Eduardo Afonso da Silva Junior
• Supervisor: Jon Clardy
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto (FCFRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Harvard University, Boston, United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 12/24204-1 - Natural products involved in chemical and biological interactions of microorganisms associated to nests of the leaf-cutting ants Atta sexdens rubropilosa, BP.DR

Abstract

The leaf-cutting ants provide fresh plant material for fungi that they cultivate for food in gardens inside their nests. These ants have associated with bacteria that produce antibiotics to protect their colonies against invaders. The natural products produced by these bacteria were selected by ants during thousands of years of evolution and may be useful for drug discovery. In this ongoing PhD project, we have found that the leaf-cutting ants Atta sexdens rubropilosa are associated with symbiotic bacteria of the genus Burkholderia sp. that produces unidentified antibiotics. Beyond that, Serratia marcescens 3FLB2 strains isolated from ants' bodies produce pyrazines similar with A. sexdens rubropilosa's trail pheromone. These bacteria can produce compounds involved in the chemical communication between these ants in a new kind of symbiosis. The main objectives of the sandwich doctorate at Jon Clardy's laboratory at Harvard Medical School will be: the isolation of bacterial antibiotics and the study of the biosynthetic pathways involved in the production of pyrazines in order to elucidate the biosynthesis of the trail pheromone. For this, the metabolites produced by Burkholderia sp. will be isolated, its antibiotic activities will be evaluated, and the genome of S. marcescens 3FLB2 will be sequenced. The internship at Harvard Medical School is in concordance to FAPESP PhD project. It will be important to further explore the PhD student results obtained in Brazil and to learn chemical biology methodologies. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

SILVA-JUNIOR, EDUARDO A.; RUZZINI, ANTONIO C.; PALUDO, CAMILA R.; NASCIMENTO, FABIO S.; CURRIE, CAMERON R.; CLARDY, JON; PUPO, MONICA T.. Pyrazines from bacteria and ants: convergent chemistry within an ecological niche. SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, v. 8, FEB 7 2018. (12/22487-6, 12/24204-1, 15/25301-9, 14/24330-2, 13/50954-0, 13/04092-7)