Yeast biota of the red imported fire ant

Ba, Amadou S.; Phillips, Sherman A.

doi:10.1016/s0953-7562(96)80208-5

Cited by 26 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…The similarity between the assemblages of yeasts found in soil and ant body surfaces is likely the result of direct contamination from soil while walking. However, ascomycetous and basidiomycetous yeasts can appear in close association with different ant species, and both positive and negative effects have been suggested (Ba and Phillips 1996, Little and Currie 2008). The biological significance of yeasts for our studied ant species remains unknown.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationships among nectar‐dwelling yeasts, flowers and ants: patterns and incidence on nectar traits

Vega

Herrera

2012

Oikos

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Nectar‐dwelling yeasts are emerging as widely distributed organisms playing a potentially significant and barely unexplored ecological role in plant pollinator mutualisms. Previous efforts at understanding nectar–pollinator–yeast interactions have focused on bee‐pollinated plants, while the importance of nectarivorous ants as vectors for yeast dispersal remains unexplored so far. Here we assess the abundance and composition of the nectar fungal microbiota of the ant‐pollinated plant Cytinus hypocistis, study whether yeast transmission is coupled with ant visitation, and discern whether ant‐ transported yeasts promote changes in nectar characteristics. Our results show that a high percentage of flowers (77%) and plants (94%) contained yeasts, with yeast cell density in nectar reaching up to 6.2 × 104 cells mm−3, being the highest densities associated with the presence of the nectar‐specialist yeast Metschnikowia reukaufii. The establishment of fungal microbiota in nectar required flower visitation by ants, with 70% of yeast species transported by them being also detected in nectar. Ant‐vectored yeasts diminished the nutritional quality of nectar, with flowers exposed to pollinators and yeasts containing significantly lower nectar sugar concentration than virgin flowers (13.4% and 22.8%, respectively). Nectar of flowers that harbored M. reukaufii showed the lowest quality, with nectar concentration declining significantly with increasing yeast density. Additionally, yeasts modified patterns of interpopulation variation in nectar traits, homo genizing differences between populations in some nectar attributes. We show for the first time that the outcome of the tripartite pollinator–flower–yeast interaction is highly dependent on the identity and inherent properties of the participants, even to the extent of influencing the species composition of this ternary system, and can be mediated by ecological characteristics of plant populations. Through their influence on plant functional traits, yeasts have the potential to alter nectar consumption, pollinator foraging behavior and ultimately plant reproduction.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationships among nectar‐dwelling yeasts, flowers and ants: patterns and incidence on nectar traits

Vega

Herrera

2012

Oikos

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“…In humans, it has been isolated from nosocomial infections (Kocsube et al 2007) and vulvovaginites (Cooper and Ginnis 1996), but is also obtained from insects (Suh et al 2005, Ganter 2006). In addition, Ba and Phillips (1996) and Ba et al (2000) reported the occurrence of C. parapsilosis in association with the red imported fire ant Solenopsis invicta.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Yeasts and filamentous fungi carried by the gynes of leaf-cutting ants

Pagnocca

Rodrigues

Nagamoto

et al. 2008

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek

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Insect-associated microbes exhibit a wide range of interactions with their hosts. One example of such interactions is the insect-driven dispersal of microorganisms, which plays an essential role in the ecology of several microbes. To study dispersal of microorganisms by leaf-cutting ants (Formicidae: Attini), we applied culture-dependent methods to identify the filamentous fungi and yeasts found in two different body parts of leaf-cutting ant gynes: the exoskeleton and the infrabuccal pocket. The gynes use the latter structure to store a pellet of the ants' symbiotic fungus during nest founding. Many filamentous fungi (n = 142) and yeasts (n = 19) were isolated from the gynes' exoskeleton. In contrast, only seven filamentous fungi and three yeasts isolates were recovered from the infrabuccal pellets, suggesting an efficient mechanism utilized by the gynes to prevent contamination of the symbiotic fungus inoculum. The genus Cladosporium prevailed (78%) among filamentous fungi whereas Aureobasidium, Candida and Cryptococcus prevailed among yeasts associated with gynes. Interestingly, Escovopsis, a specialized fungal pathogen of the leaf-cutting ant-fungus symbiosis, was not isolated from the body parts or from infrabuccal pellets of any gynes sampled. Our results suggest that gynes of the leaf-cutter ants Atta laevigata and A. capiguara do not vertically transmit any particular species of yeasts or filamentous fungi during the foundation of a new nest. Instead, fungi found in association with gynes have a cosmopolitan distribution, suggesting they are probably acquired from the environment and passively dispersed during nest foundation. The possible role of these fungi for the attine ant-microbial symbiosis is discussed.

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“…Candida rugosa has also been isolated from samples of excreta collected from cows and from different species of birds ( Van Uden and Buckley, 1970); Yasin et al, 1991) and in the haemolymph of the red imported fire ant ( Solenopsis invicta ) ( Ba and Phillips, 1996) and it has subsequently been isolated from stale butter and sea water ( Van Uden and Buckley, 1970). Taken together, the reported data suggest that C. rugosa has the characteristics of an opportunistic yeast.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Isolation of Candida rugosa from Turkeys

Moretti¹,

Fioretti²,

Boncio³

et al. 2000

Journal of Veterinary Medicine, Series B

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The present study describes the isolation of Candida rugosa from young turkeys that died 10 days after the end of a therapeutic treatment for a recent outbreak of coccidiosis. Candida rugosa was isolated from the digestive tract of all the birds examined. This isolation is the first in turkeys and corroborates the fact that C. rugosa is an opportunistic yeast which circumvents host defences when other predisposing factors are present.

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Yeast biota of the red imported fire ant

Cited by 26 publications

References 12 publications

Relationships among nectar‐dwelling yeasts, flowers and ants: patterns and incidence on nectar traits

Relationships among nectar‐dwelling yeasts, flowers and ants: patterns and incidence on nectar traits

Yeasts and filamentous fungi carried by the gynes of leaf-cutting ants

Isolation of Candida rugosa from Turkeys

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