Fungal communities in gardens of the leafcutter ant Atta cephalotes in forest and cabruca agrosystems of southern Bahia State (Brazil)

Autor(es)

dos Santos Reis, Barbara Monique ^[1] ; Silva, Aline ^[1] ; Alvarez, Martin Roberto ^[1] ; de Oliveira, Tassio Brito ^[2] ; Rodrigues, Andre ^{[2, 3]}

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] UESC Santa Cruz State Univ, Dept Biol Sci, BR-45662900 Ilheus, BA - Brazil

^[2] UNESP Sao Paulo State Univ, Dept Biochem & Microbiol, BR-13560900 Rio Claro, SP - Brazil

^[3] UNESP Sao Paulo State Univ, Ctr Study Social Insects, BR-13560900 Rio Claro, SP - Brazil

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: FUNGAL BIOLOGY; v. 119, n. 12, p. 1170-1178, DEC 2015.
• Citações Web of Science: 7

Resumo

Leaf-cutting ants interact with several fungi in addition to the fungal symbiont they cultivate for food. Here, we assessed alien fungal communities in colonies of Atta cephalotes. Fungus garden fragments were sampled from colonies in the Atlantic Rainforest and in a cabruca agrosystem in the state of Bahia (Brazil) in two distinct periods to evaluate whether differences in nest habitat influence the diversity of fungi in the ant colonies. We recovered a total of 403 alien fungi isolates from 628 garden fragments. The prevalent taxa found in these samples were Escovopsis sp. (26 %), Escovopsioides nivea (24 %), and Trichoderma spirale (10.9 %). Fungal diversity was similar between the colonies sampled in both areas suggesting that ants focus on reducing loads of alien fungi in the fungus gardens instead of avoiding specific fungi. However, fungal taxa composition differed between colonies sampled in the two areas and between the sampling periods. These differences are likely explained by the availability of plant substrates available for foraging over habitats and periods. Ordination analysis further supported that sampling period was the main attribute for community structuring but also revealed that additional factors may explain the structuring of fungal communities in colonies of A. cephalotes. (C) 2015 The British Mycological Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 11/16765-0 - Código de barras de DNA e potencial biotecnológico dos microfungos associados aos ninhos das formigas cortadeiras
• Beneficiário: André Rodrigues
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Jovens Pesquisadores