Metabolic profile of the symbiosis between Hypocreaceae fungi and fungal cultivars of attine ants

• Grant number: 24/23519-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: June 01, 2025
• End date: May 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Microbiology - Biology and Physiology of Microorganisms
• Principal Investigator: André Rodrigues
• Grantee: Mateus Oliveira da Cruz
• Supervisor: Bryn Dentinger
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Utah (U), United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 22/16087-7 - Ecology and systematic of hypocrealean fungi associated with attine ants, BP.DR

Abstract

Fungus-growing attine ants cultivate Basidiomycota fungi for food. The relationship between attineants, such as Apterostigma, and their cultivated fungus is a multipartite symbiosis that involves many other fungi such as those in the Hypocreaceae family (Ascomycota). Our research group found new phylogenetic Hypocreaceae genera living in association with Apterostigma colonies. These lineages, previously named as clade C and clade D, are phylogenetically close to other groups of fungi, such as the genus Escovopsis, that are exclusively associated with attine ant colonies. In the ongoingFAPESP project (# 2022/16087-7) we investigated the ecology and systematics of these new clades of fungi and gained insights on their taxonomic diversity and geographic distribution. However, the interaction of these fungi with fungal cultivars of Apterostigma, as well as their metabolomic profile in the presence of such cultivars, are still a mystery. Here, we will describe the interaction patterns between fungi in the clades C and D towards cultivars of Apterostigma as well as investigate the metabolites produced by those Hypocreaceae fungi during their interaction with the ants' cultivars. We intent to visit Dr. Bryn Dentinger's Laboratory at The University of Utah (USA). Dr. Dentiger holds a collection of ant fungal cultivars derived from Apterostigma ants that match with clade C and D obtained by our lab group. Furthermore, his lab is specialized in the diversity and evolution of Apterostigma cultivars and the chemical ecology of the ant-fungus mutualism. By elucidating the nature of clades C and D fungi-Apterostigma cultivar interaction, and the chemical profile of such interaction, this study will contribute to a deeper understanding of the multiple symbiosis that allowed the attine ants evolutionary success.