Mutualism with aggressive wood-degrading Flavodon ambrosius (Polyporales) facilitates niche expansion and communal social structure in Ambrosiophilus ambrosia beetles

Kasson, Matthew T.; Wickert, Kristen L.; Stauder, Cameron M.; Macias, Angie M.; Berger, Matthew C.; Simmons, D. Rabern; Short, Dylan P. G.; DeVallance, David; Hulcr, Jiří

doi:10.1016/j.funeco.2016.07.002

Cited by 56 publications

(55 citation statements)

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“…By comparison, farming in ants and termites has evolved only once despite their undoubtedly intimate contact with various fungi in their environment. In stark contrast to ambrosia beetles (excluding Austroplatypus and perhaps some Ambrosiophilus species) (Kasson et al., ), farming ants and termites are eusocial and form large, well‐defended, colonies to the exclusion of other insect species. This social structure likely impedes the comingling of cultivars and behaviour in a common substrate with other nonfarming, mycophagous species (Mueller et al., ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the 50 My following PETM radiations, at least 14 lineages evolved. As existing farmers domesticated new fungal lineages (Kasson et al., , ; Mayers et al., ), an asynchrony between the age of the beetle's farming habit and the time of domestication for fungal lineages is observed. An example of this asynchrony is the Scolytine genus Gnathotrichus which did not evolve a farming habit until 16–34 Ma (95% credibility crown node, Gohli et al., ) despite its association with R. gnathotrichi , a very close relative of R. arxii , a lineage whose ancestor was domesticated ~86 Ma (Figure A).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the 50 My following PETM radiations, at least 14 lineages evolved. As existing farmers domesticated new fungal lineages (Kasson et al, 2013(Kasson et al, , 2016Mayers et al, 2015), an asynchrony between the age of the beetle's farming habit and the time of domestication for fungal lineages is observed.…”

Section: Fungal Farming Begets Fungal Farmingmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 98%

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Know your farmer: Ancient origins and multiple independent domestications of ambrosia beetle fungal cultivars

2017

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Bark and ambrosia beetles are highly specialized weevils (Curculionidae) that have established diverse symbioses with fungi, most often from the order Ophiostomatales (Ascomycota, Sordariomycetes). The two types of beetles are distinguished by their feeding habits and intimacy of interactions with their symbiotic fungi. The tree tissue diet of bark beetles is facilitated by fungi, while ambrosia beetles feed solely on fungi that they farm. The farming life history strategy requires domestication of a fungus, which the beetles consume as their sole food source. Ambrosia beetles in the subfamily Platypodinae originated in the mid-Cretaceous (119-88 Ma) and are the oldest known group of farming insects. However, attempts to resolve phylogenetic relationships and the timing of domestication events for fungal cultivars have been largely inconclusive. We sequenced the genomes of 12 ambrosia beetle fungal cultivars and bark beetle associates, including the devastating laurel wilt pathogen, Raffaelea lauricola, to estimate a robust phylogeny of the Ophiostomatales. We find evidence for contemporaneous diversification of the beetles and their associated fungi, followed by three independent domestication events of the ambrosia fungi genus Raffaelea. We estimate the first domestication of an Ophiostomatales fungus occurred ~86 Ma, 25 million years earlier than prior estimates and in close agreement with the estimated age of farming in the Platypodinae (96 Ma). Comparisons of the timing of fungal domestication events with the timing of beetle radiations support the hypothesis that the first large beetle radiations may have spread domesticated "ambrosia" fungi to other fungi-associated beetle groups, perhaps facilitating the evolution of new farming lineages.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Fungal Farming Begets Fungal Farmingmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 98%

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Know your farmer: Ancient origins and multiple independent domestications of ambrosia beetle fungal cultivars

2017

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“…Furthermore, ambrosia beetles’ mycosymbionts are not limited to the ascomycetous Ophiostomatales . Li et al (2015) found a new basidiomycetous Polyporales fungus, Flavodon ambrosius (Simmons et al 2016), in symbiosis with Ambrosiodmus species, and Kasson et al (2016) found the same mycosymbiont associated with another genus, Ambrosiophilus , which is sister to Ambrosiodmus (Hulcr & Cognato 2010). Thus, as investigations into these insects increase in number, additional fungal genera in unexpected lineages may be found in symbioses with ambrosia beetles.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New Raffaelea species (Ophiostomatales) from the USA and Taiwan associated with ambrosia beetles and plant hosts

et al. 2016

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Raffaelea (Ophiostomatales) is a genus of more than 20 ophiostomatoid fungi commonly occurring in symbioses with wood-boring ambrosia beetles. We examined ambrosia beetles and plant hosts in the USA and Taiwan for the presence of these mycosymbionts and found 22 isolates representing known and undescribed lineages in Raffaelea. From 28S rDNA and β-tubulin sequences, we generated a molecular phylogeny of Ophiostomatales and observed morphological features of seven cultures representing undescribed lineages in Raffaelea s. lat. From these analyses, we describe five new species in Raffaelea s. lat.: R. aguacate, R. campbellii, R. crossotarsa, R. cyclorhipidia, and R. xyleborina spp. nov. Our analyses also identified two plant-pathogenic species of Raffaelea associated with previously undocumented beetle hosts: (1) R. quercivora, the causative agent of Japanese oak wilt, from Cyclorhipidion ohnoi and Crossotarsus emancipatus in Taiwan, and (2) R. lauricola, the pathogen responsible for laurel wilt, from Ambrosiodmus lecontei in Florida. The results of this study show that Raffaelea and associated ophiostomatoid fungi have been poorly sampled and that future investigations on ambrosia beetle mycosymbionts should reveal a substantially increased diversity.

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Colonization of oil palm empty fruit bunches by basidiomycetes from the Brazilian cerrado: Enzyme production

Silva

Mendes

Pacheco

et al. 2022

Energy Science & Engineering

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Mutualism with aggressive wood-degrading Flavodon ambrosius (Polyporales) facilitates niche expansion and communal social structure in Ambrosiophilus ambrosia beetles

Abstract: 2016-11-03T14:11:40

Cited by 56 publications

References 44 publications

Know your farmer: Ancient origins and multiple independent domestications of ambrosia beetle fungal cultivars

Know your farmer: Ancient origins and multiple independent domestications of ambrosia beetle fungal cultivars

New Raffaelea species (Ophiostomatales) from the USA and Taiwan associated with ambrosia beetles and plant hosts

Colonization of oil palm empty fruit bunches by basidiomycetes from the Brazilian cerrado: Enzyme production

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