In 2012, scientists observed that of 20 species of fungus-growing ant, including leaf-cutting ants (above), a majority cover juveniles—eggs , larvae and pupae—in mycelia from the fungus they grow. Now, scientists believe this fungal cocoon protects the juvenile ants from parasitic fungus. (University of Wisconsin photo)
In the dark recesses of an underground fungus garden, a Panamanian leaf-cutting ant plucks a tuft of mycelia, the wispy part of the basidiomycete fungus these ants grow and eat, and carries it to a nearby ant pupa. The ant licks the pupa's body before patting the fungus into place, continuing until it appears, when viewed under a powerful microscope, as though the pupa is webbed in short strands of spaghetti.
Odd behavior perhaps, but leaf-cutting ants aren't the only ants to cover their pupae in mycelia. In a 2012 study scientists showed that of 20 species of fungus-growing ant (including the leaf-cutting ant), the majority cover juveniles—eggs, larvae and pupae—in mycelia. The research, published in the journal Evolution, was authored by Hermógenes Fernández-Marín of the University of Copenhagen, the Institute of Scientific Research and High Technology Services and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute; William T. Wcislo, senior staff scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute; and Sophie A. O. Armitage and Jacobus J. Boomsma of the University of Copenhagen.
Video: At center screen are larvae and pupae of the leaf-cutting ant A. echinatior covered in a protective coating of the basidiomycete fungus these ants grow and eat. At top are eggs awaiting their protective fungus covering. (Video by Rita Marissa Giovani)
“This [finding] was nice because the fungi is really the food for the ant, but in this context the ants co-opt the fungi for protection,” Fernández-Marín says.
In 2012, scientists weren't certain what exactly the mycelial cover was protecting the ants against. Now, they may have an answer: The fungal cocoon impedes a parasitic fungus. In a new study in the Journal of Animal Ecology, Fernández-Marín, Wcislo, Armitage and Boomsma suggest that for the leaf-cutting ant Acromyrmex echinatior, this fungal cocoon slows down a known enemy: the parasitic fungus Metarhizium brunneum.
While an ant is out foraging, spores of this parasitic fungus can land on it, burrow through its outer covering, called a cuticle, and invade the ant's body. The fungus then proliferates and kills its host. With tens of thousands of ants tromping around the colony, the parasitic fungus could easily spread through contact, with disastrous results.
Video: At center screen are larvae and pupae of the leaf-cutting ant A. echinatior covered in the basidiomycete fungus these ants grow and eat. At top of screen are two eggs without the protective fungus covering. (Video by Rita Marissa Giovani)
Luckily, A. echinatior ants have developed multiple ways of bolstering themselves—and their colony—against infection. Their bodies house different chemical weapons. In a gland on their back, they store antimicrobial compounds, and on their bodies they host antibiotic-producing microbes. Now it seems this fungal cocoon is “an extra arrow in their quiver of antimicrobial strategies,” Wcislo says.
How does the fungal cocoon work? It seems to slow the growth of the parasitic fungus. In experiments, the researchers brushed the protective basidiomycete fungus from the abdomens of some of the pupae and left others with their fungus intact. They then added parasitic spores on a small patch of abdomen using the tip of a pencil. They observed that the parastitic fungus grew faster on the bare-bellied pupae.
“I was surprised that this is possible,” says Peter Biedermann from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, who was not involved in this research. “That you can really see the fungus mycelium covering on the brood and you can brush off mycelium from some body parts is interesting.”
Close-up of the head of the leaf cutting ant “Acromyrmex echinatior” (Photo by Will Ericson, AntWeb.org)
The mycelial cover plays a key role in defending the overall health of the colony. “It's probably stretching the analogy a bit too far, but it's almost as if these mycelial covers act as a sort of miniature quarantine, it seems, which might just reduce the rate of contact between uninfecteds and infecteds, or it might just slow the rate of transmission of spores,” Wcislo says.
Either way, the mycelial cover appears to work in combination with the ants' other methods for fending off infection. Fernández-Marín and Wcislo are now working to find out how the ants employ their different antimicrobial techniques depending on the type of pathogen that threatens them.
It also still remains to be seen if, when an ant pats mycelia onto a pupa, it is actually planting them there. It could be that the protective fungus grows on the pupa, fed by the pupa's secretions. If so, it may make sense to think of these pupae as a new type of Chia Pet—one in which the pet, too, is alive.
The post Mystery solved? Ants Protect Young From Infection By Cocooning Them in Fungus appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.
US one sheet for THE ADVENTURE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES' SMARTER BROTHER (Gene Wilder, USA, 1975)
Artist: John Alvin
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R.I.P. GENE WILDER (1933-2016)
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At best, just 2,500 Indochinese leopards survive today across Southeast Asia. They have been eradicated from 93% of their historic habitat by snares, poachers, deforestation and declines in prey. Can conservationists stop the bleeding before its too late?
Conservationists have long known that it's hard and in some cases nearly impossible to survive as a tiger in Southeast Asia. Burning forests, high human populations and unflagging demand for tiger blood, tiger skin and crushed tiger bone means the big cats have to tread a daily gauntlet of snares, guns and desperate poachers. Now, conservationists are discovering, belatedly, that the same is largely true for leopards.
A sobering new study in Biological Conservation has found that the Indochinese leopard a distinct subspecies may be down to less than 1,000 individuals. And in the best-case scenario only 2,500 animals survive less than the population of Farmsfield village in Nottinghamshire.
The black coat of melanistic leopards may have made them ‘perfect stalkers' in the dimly-lit rainforests
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American alligators and South African crocodiles populate waterways a third of the globe apart, and yet both have detectable levels of long-lived industrial and household compounds for nonstick coatings in their blood, according to two studies from researchers at the Hollings Marine Laboratory in Charleston, South Carolina, and its affiliated institutions, which include the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
The two studies are first-of-their-kind examinations of PFAA levels in “sentinel” reptile species, especially useful for investigating the impacts of long-lived chemicals in the environment, NIST says in a news statement about the research. PFAAs (perfluorinated alkyl acids) have been used in products that include water-repellent clothes, stain repellents, waxes, nonstick pans and fire-suppressing foams.
Compounds Associated With Liver Toxicity, Reduced Fertility
“Production of some compounds in this family of environmentally persistent chemicalsassociated with liver toxicity, reduced fertility and a variety of other health problems in studies of people and animalshas been phased out in the United States and many other nations. Yet all blood plasma samples drawn from 125 American alligators across 12 sites in Florida and South Carolina contained at least six of the 15 PFAAs that were tracked in the alligator study,” the NIST release says.
Excerpted from the news statement:
In alligators, plasma levels of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) ranged from 1,360 to 452,000 parts per trillion. In May 2016, the Environmental Protection Agency issued a drinking-water health advisory for PFOS and another PFAA, recommending a maximum exposure level of 70 parts per trillion for one of the PFAAs or the sum of the two. High PFOS levels reported for alligators at several sites may suggest the need to test drinking water for contamination at those locations, according to the researchers.
In a separate study, researchers report that all samples drawn from 45 crocodiles at five sites in and around South Africa's Kruger National Park contained detectable levels of four PFAAs, often in different combinations with other of the 15 fluorinated organic compounds tracked. Present in all plasma samples, PFOS levels ranged from 776 to 118,000 parts per trillion.
“Alligators and crocodiles play a dominant role in their ecosystems,” said Jacqueline Bangma, of the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. “Similar to humans, they are long-lived top predators. They stay in a select territorywaterways where runoff from human activities accumulates and their PFAA burden increases through the consumption of fish.”
To date, field studies of PFAA levels and health effects in reptiles have been few, focusing mostly on sea turtles. Across studies of animalsfrom rats to frogs to marine mammalsplasma levels, time required to eliminate PFAAs from the body, and health effects vary greatly, making it difficult to extrapolate from one species to another.
The landmark studies were initiated by the Hollings Marine Laboratory, a partnership including NIST, NOAA's National Ocean Service, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, the College of Charleston, and the Medical University of South Carolina. Plans are to continue PFAA monitoring on both continents, according to NIST research chemist Jessica Reiner.
Hot Spots Identified
Both studies identified “hot spots,” where PFAA levels were significantly higher than in animals tested at other sites, an indication that the contaminants were emitted by a nearby source. In the U.S. study, median plasma levels of certain PFAAs were highest in alligators on Kiawah Island, an Atlantic Ocean barrier island southwest of Charleston, South Carolina, and on Merritt Island in Florida.
Past use of PFAA-containing foams, such as those employed in firefighting training, may account for the higher levels, the researchers suggest. High environmental concentrations have been reported at fire-training sites and at manufacturing plants.
In contrast, alligators at two sites in the Florida Everglades exhibited some of the lowest levels of the two “highest burden” PFAAs reported across all adult alligators sampled in the U.S. study. The result was somewhat unexpected, Reiner said, because Everglade's alligators have been reported to have some of the highest levels of mercury, a toxic heavy metal, among Florida alligators.
Among the South African crocodiles tested, PFAA levels were highest for animals tested from Flag Boshielo Dam, a reservoir on the Oliphants River, just upstream from Kruger National Park.
Among the American alligators studied, some PFAA levels tended to be higher among males, regardless of locations. Levels also tended to increase with age, as determined by snout length. Age- and sex-related associations with PFAA levels were not found in the crocodiles sampled.
Articles:
I. Christie, J.L. Reiner, J.A. Bowden, H. Botha, T.M. Cantu, D. Govender, M.P. Guillettee, R.H. Lowers, W.J. Luus-Powell, D. Pienaar, W.J. Smit and L.J. Guillette Jr. Perfluorinated alkyl acids in the plasma of South African crocodiles (Crocodylus niloticus). Chemosphere. Published: July 2016. DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2016.03.072.
J.T. Bangma, J.A. Bowden, A.M. Brunell, I. Christie, B. Finnell, M.P. Guillette, M. Jones, R.H. Lowers, T.R. Rainwater, J.L. Reiner, P.M. Wilkinson and L.J. Guillette, Jr. Perfluorinated alkyl acids in plasma of American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) from Florida and South Carolina. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. Accepted manuscript online: August 20, 2016. doi:10.1002/etc.3600
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