Turtle ants harbor metabolically versatile microbiomes with conserved functions across development and phylogeny.

Autor:	Béchade B; Department of Biology, Drexel University, 3245 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States., Hu Y; Department of Biology, Drexel University, 3245 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States.; State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology and Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China., Sanders JG; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Dale R.Corson Hall, Ithaca, NY 14850, United States., Cabuslay CS; Department of Biology, Drexel University, 3245 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States., Łukasik P; Institute of Environmental Sciences, Jagiellonian University, Gołębia 24, 31-007 Kraków, Poland., Williams BR; Department of Biology, Calvin College, 1726 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402, United States., Fiers VJ; Department of Biology, Drexel University, 3245 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States., Lu R; Department of Biology, Drexel University, 3245 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States., Wertz JT; Department of Biology, Calvin College, 1726 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402, United States., Russell JA; Department of Biology, Drexel University, 3245 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States.
Jazyk:	angličtina
Zdroj:	FEMS microbiology ecology [FEMS Microbiol Ecol] 2022 Jul 21; Vol. 98 (8).
DOI:	10.1093/femsec/fiac068
Abstrakt:	Gut bacterial symbionts can support animal nutrition by facilitating digestion and providing valuable metabolites. However, changes in symbiotic roles between immature and adult stages are not well documented, especially in ants. Here, we explored the metabolic capabilities of microbiomes sampled from herbivorous turtle ant (Cephalotes sp.) larvae and adult workers through (meta)genomic screening and in vitro metabolic assays. We reveal that larval guts harbor bacterial symbionts with impressive metabolic capabilities, including catabolism of plant and fungal recalcitrant dietary fibers and energy-generating fermentation. Additionally, several members of the specialized adult gut microbiome, sampled downstream of an anatomical barrier that dams large food particles, show a conserved potential to depolymerize many dietary fibers. Symbionts from both life stages have the genomic capacity to recycle nitrogen and synthesize amino acids and B-vitamins. With help of their gut symbionts, including several bacteria likely acquired from the environment, turtle ant larvae may aid colony digestion and contribute to colony-wide nitrogen, B-vitamin and energy budgets. In addition, the conserved nature of the digestive capacities among adult-associated symbionts suggests that nutritional ecology of turtle ant colonies has long been shaped by specialized, behaviorally-transferred gut bacteria with over 45 million years of residency. (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of FEMS.)
Databáze:	MEDLINE
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