Nest substrate, more than ant activity, drives fungal pathogen community dissimilarity in seed-dispersing ant nests

Lash, Chloe L; Fordyce, James A.; Kwit, Charles

doi:10.1007/s00442-020-04796-5

Cited by 7 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…In contrast to most studies on myrmecochory, we focus on the differences in ant species considering the cleaning strategies rather than their ability to remove seeds and deposition sites. Our results support the inclusion of one more factor in the myrmecochorous seed fate equation to determine the quality of a seed dispenser, the ant manipulation strategies [9,18,45]. By doing so, we bring new insight into the comprehension of the co-evolutionary paths of the myrmecochory mutualisms, third-part interactions with fungi and their ultimate outcomes on seed fate.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 68%

“…We recognize limitations in our identification of microbial species. Therefore, we suggest further investigation using modern molecular techniques (e.g., next-generation sequencing) to precisely identify fungi, their functional groups and pathogenicity [14,18]. Furthermore, the fine identification of fungi species might be valuable once some fungi lineages could also positively affect seed germination and plant development [44].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ant identity determines the fungi richness and composition of a myrmecochorous seed

Fernandes,

Gomes

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Myrmecochory - seed dispersal by ants - is a mutualistic interaction in which ants attracted by seed appendices take them away from the parental plant location, where seeds usually have better development odds. Not all ant species benefit plants, and the mechanisms of those divergent outcomes are still unclear, especially from the perspective of microbial third parties. Here, we explore the effects of seed manipulation on fungi communities promoted by two ant species with contrasting effects on seed germination and antimicrobial cleaning strategies. We hypothesize that: i) fungi richness is higher in seeds manipulated by Acromyrmex subterraneus (species that negatively affect seed germination), followed by unmanipulated seeds and seeds manipulated by Atta sexdens (ant species that increase seed germination) and ii) seeds manipulated by A. sexdens, Ac. subterraneus and unmanipulated seeds present dissimilar fungi compositions. We identified fungal morphotypes in three groups of seeds: i) manipulated by A. sexdens; ii) manipulated by Ac. subterraneus; iii) unmanipulated. Seeds manipulated by Ac. subterraneus exhibited higher fungal richness than those manipulated by A. sexdens and unmanipulated seeds, indicating that the ant species known to impair germination increases the fungal load on seeds. Additionally, we found that A. sexdens ants were unable to reduce fungal richness compared to unmanipulated seeds. Furthermore, fungal composition differed among all three treatments. Our results underscore the significance of ant species identity in shaping the fungal communities associated with myrmecochorous seeds. Given the potential influence of microbial infection on seed fate, we suggest considering manipulation strategies when evaluating the overall quality of an ant as a seed disperser.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 68%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ant identity determines the fungi richness and composition of a myrmecochorous seed

Fernandes,

Gomes

et al. 2023

Preprint

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“…Areas immediately adjacent to seed‐dispersing ant nests have different microbial activity than surrounding soil sites as measured by potential soil enzyme activity (Connell et al., 2016), and seed‐dispersing ant nests have lower fungal species richness than nearby non‐nest locations (Tarsa et al., 2018; Zettler et al., 2002). Furthermore, seed‐dispersing ant nests harbour lower richness of fungal phytopathogens than non‐nest soils (Tarsa et al., 2018; but see Lash et al., 2020). Such lower fungal phytopathogen species richness has been suggested to be the result of ant‐produced antimicrobial glandular secretions (Tarsa et al., 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, seed-dispersing ant nests harbour lower richness of fungal phytopathogens than non-nest soils (Tarsa et al, 2018;but see Lash et al, 2020). Such lower fungal phytopathogen species richness has been suggested to be the result of ant-produced antimicrobial glandular secretions (Tarsa et al, 2018).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Ant handling changes myrmecochore seed coat microbiomes and alters diversity of seed‐borne plant pathogenic fungi

Lash,

Cregger,

Kinkopf

et al. 2024

Functional Ecology

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The putative benefits to seeds in myrmecochory (ant‐mediated seed dispersal) are often cast in a reward context. However, microbes have been mostly overlooked as seed mortality agents in myrmecochory, as have potential treatments provided by ant‐handling. We investigated the effects of ant handling on the diversity of seed coat fungal communities of three myrmecochorous plant species. Ant‐handling altered measures of both alpha and beta diversity of fungal communities. Ant‐handled seeds harboured different overall fungal communities and plant pathogen communities than non‐ant‐handled seeds. The myrmecochore pathogenic fungal community showed high dissimilarity (high pairwise community turnover) between ant‐handled and control seeds, while beta diversity measures for ant‐handled seeds and seeds with manually removed elaiosomes were less dissimilar. Ant handling may offer an additional benefit to myrmecochorous seeds via the reduction in the seed coat pathogenic community, which may be driven by elaiosome removal or as a by‐product of ant cleaning behaviours and chemical secretions. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

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“…It is important to note that ant hygienic strategies also inhibit a variety of microorganisms with no evident harm to ants, such as phytopathogenic fungi. [ 13 , 14 , 18 ]. Therefore, distinct hygienic strategies among ant species might play divergent roles in the fungi communities present on myrmecochorous seed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ant identity determines the fungi richness and composition of a myrmecochorous seed

Fernandes,

Gomes

et al. 2024

PLoS ONE

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Myrmecochory—seed dispersal by ants—is a mutualistic interaction in which ants attracted by seed appendices take them away from the parental plant location, where seeds usually have better development odds. Not all ant species benefit plants, and the mechanisms of those divergent outcomes are still unclear, especially from the perspective of microbial third parties. Here, we explore the effects of seed manipulation on fungi communities promoted by two ant species with contrasting effects on seed germination and antimicrobial cleaning strategies. We hypothesize that: i) fungi richness is higher in seeds manipulated by Acromyrmex subterraneus (species that negatively affect seed germination), followed by unmanipulated seeds and seeds manipulated by Atta sexdens (ant species that increase seed germination) and ii) seeds manipulated by A. sexdens, Ac. subterraneus and unmanipulated seeds present dissimilar fungi compositions. We identified fungal morphotypes in three groups of seeds: i) manipulated by A. sexdens; ii) manipulated by Ac. subterraneus; iii) unmanipulated. Seeds manipulated by Ac. subterraneus exhibited higher fungal richness than those manipulated by A. sexdens and unmanipulated seeds, indicating that the ant species known to impair germination increases the fungal load on seeds. Additionally, we found that A. sexdens ants were unable to reduce fungal richness compared to unmanipulated seeds. Furthermore, fungal composition differed among all three treatments. Our results underscore the significance of ant species identity in shaping the fungal communities associated with myrmecochorous seeds. Given the potential influence of microbial infection on seed fate, we suggest considering manipulation strategies when evaluating the overall quality of an ant as a seed disperser.

show abstract

Nest substrate, more than ant activity, drives fungal pathogen community dissimilarity in seed-dispersing ant nests

Cited by 7 publications

References 57 publications

Ant identity determines the fungi richness and composition of a myrmecochorous seed

Ant identity determines the fungi richness and composition of a myrmecochorous seed

Ant handling changes myrmecochore seed coat microbiomes and alters diversity of seed‐borne plant pathogenic fungi

Ant identity determines the fungi richness and composition of a myrmecochorous seed

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