Cauline domatia of the ant-plant Humboldtia brunonis (Fabaceae)

Chanam, Joyshree; Borges, Renée M.

doi:10.1016/j.flora.2017.09.005

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…However, the scenario so far was that ant‐derived nutrients come from the passive uptake of detritus deposited within the domatia (Davidson & Epstein, ; Gay, ; Treseder et al ., ; Gegenbauer et al ., ). Indeed, many ant‐plants have adaptations for gaining nutrients from ant waste, such as suberin incrustations in Piper (Tepe et al ., ) and Caularthron (Gegenbauer et al ., ), pitted sclerenchyma with numerous plasmodesmata in Leonardoxa (Defossez et al ., ) and Humboldtia (Chanam & Borges, ), and internal roots as in Dischidia (Treseder et al ., ) and nonfarmed Squamellaria (this study, Fig. a).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Farming by ants remodels nutrient uptake in epiphytes

Chomicki

Renner²

2019

New Phytologist

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True agriculturedefined by habitual planting, cultivation, harvesting and dependence of a farmer on a cropis known from fungi farmed by ants, termites or beetles, and plants farmed by humans or ants. Because farmers supply their crops with nutrients, they have the potential to modify crop nutrition over evolutionary time. Here we test this hypothesis in ant/plant farming symbioses.We used field experiments, phylogenetic-comparative analyses and computed-tomography scanning to investigate how the evolution of farming by ants has impacted the nutrition of locally coexisting species in the epiphytic genus Squamellaria (Rubiaceae).Using isotope-labelled mineral and organic nitrogen, we show that specialised ants actively and exclusively fertilise hyperabsorptive warts on the inner walls of plant-formed structures (domatia) where they nest, sharply contrasting with nitrogen provisioning by ants in nonfarming generalist symbioses. Similar hyperabsorptive warts have evolved repeatedly in lineages colonised by farming ants.Our study supports the idea that millions of years of ant agriculture have remodelled plant physiology, shifting from ant-derived nutrients as by-products to active and targeted fertilisation on hyperabsorptive sites. The increased efficiency of ant-derived nutrient provisioning appears to stem from a combination of farming ant behaviour and plant 'crop' traits.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Farming by ants remodels nutrient uptake in epiphytes

Chomicki

Renner²

2019

New Phytologist

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“…Marine isopods [175], harvestman [176], jewel box clams [177], crabs [178], and (possibly) three-toed sloths [179] acquire camouflage and other mechanical and chemical defenses from ectosymbiotic algae, cyanobacteria, and sponges. There are also defense-conferring symbioses that represent a sort of middle ground between recruited association and nearcomplete fusion, including those of "myrmecophytes" (plants that bear specialized structures to support colonies of "bodyguard" ants) [180][181][182] and those of gobies with burrowing shrimp (wherein the shrimp permit the gobies to share their dens in return for "sentry duty") [183]. Such symbiosis-derived associational defenses can also be directed at parasites, as is the case with the mutualistic symbiosis that New Zealand cockles (Austrovenus stutchburyi Wood) share with a fellow intertidal bivalve, the mud flat anemone (Anthopleura aureoradiata Carlgren).…”

Section: Associational Defenses ("The Enemy Of My Enemy Is My Ally")mentioning

confidence: 99%

Acquisition of Adaptive Traits via Interspecific Association: Ecological Consequences and Applications

Banerji

2021

Ecologies

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Adaptative traits enable organisms to survive and reproduce. Though these traits are often innate features (ones that may or may not exhibit variability in response to environmental cues or originate from horizontal gene transfer), this is not always the case. Many species endure natural selection not with the traits they possess intrinsically but with exogenous substances and abilities that they acquire from other species, via ecological interactions akin to outsourcing, pillaging, and fraud. Here, I review the mechanisms of this exogenous trait acquisition and highlight some of their repercussions and usefulness for natural resource management, industry, and human health.

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