Recognition of endophytic Trichoderma species by leaf-cutting ants and their potential in a Trojan-horse management strategy
| Autor: | Simon L. Elliot, Silma L. Rocha, Lucimar A. O. Cardoso, Harry C. Evans, Fernanda S. T. Pereira, Adam G. Hart, Robert W. Barreto, Fabiano Branco Rocha, Vanessa L. Jorge |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2017 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
Integrated pest management Foraging Leucoagaricus Biology leucoagaricus QL_461_Insects 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences Plant use of endophytic fungi in defense trichoderma endophytes Nest Botany fungal bodyguards lcsh:Science Silviculture QL Multidisciplinary Fungal bodyguards fungi Trichoderma endophytes food and beverages silviculture biology.organism_classification Eucalyptus Pest management pest management Atta sexdens Trichoderma behavior and behavior mechanisms lcsh:Q 010606 plant biology & botany |
| Zdroj: | LOCUS Repositório Institucional da UFV Universidade Federal de Viçosa (UFV) instacron:UFV Royal Society Open Science, Vol 4, Iss 4 (2017) |
| ISSN: | 2054-5703 |
| Popis: | Interactions between leaf-cutting ants, their fungal symbiont (Leucoagaricus) and the endophytic fungi within the vegetation they carry into their colonies are still poorly understood. If endophytes antagonistic toLeucoagaricuswere found in plant material being carried by these ants, then this might indicate a potential mechanism for plants to defend themselves from leaf-cutter attack. In addition, it could offer possibilities for the management of these important Neotropical pests. Here, we show that, forAtta sexdens rubropilosa, there was a significantly greater incidence ofTrichodermaspecies in the vegetation removed from the nests—and deposited around the entrances—than in that being transported into the nests. In a no-choice test,Trichoderma-infested rice was taken into the nest, with deleterious effects on both the fungal gardens and ant survival. The endophytic ability of selected strains ofTrichodermawas also confirmed, following their inoculation and subsequent reisolation from seedlings of eucalyptus. These results indicate that endophytic fungi which pose a threat to ant fungal gardens through their antagonistic traits, such asTrichoderma, have the potential to act as bodyguards of their plant hosts and thus might be employed in a Trojan-horse strategy to mitigate the negative impact of leaf-cutting ants in both agriculture and silviculture in the Neotropics. We posit that the ants would detect and evict such ‘malign’ endophytes—artificially inoculated into vulnerable crops—during the quality-control process within the nest, and, moreover, that the foraging ants may then be deterred from further harvesting of ‘Trichoderma-enriched’ plants. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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