scholarly journals Biogeography of mutualistic fungi cultivated by leafcutter ants

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (24) ◽  
pp. 6921-6937 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrich G. Mueller ◽  
Heather D. Ishak ◽  
Sofia M. Bruschi ◽  
Chad C. Smith ◽  
Jacob J. Herman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Leafcutter Ants ◽  
Mutualistic Fungi

Historicity of Ecocriticism and Ecocritical History: An Introductory Overview

IJOHMN ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 22-52
Author(s):  
Jalal Uddin Khan
Keyword(s):  
Extended Family ◽  
Nobel Laureate ◽  
Amazon Rainforest ◽  
Sixth Grader ◽  
Leafcutter Ants ◽  
Biological Phenomena ◽  
Science Story ◽  
Introductory Overview ◽  
Popular Magazine ◽  
Living Organisms

Overlapping and interconnected, interdisciplinary and heterogeneous, amorphous and multi-layered, and deep and broad as it is, countless topics on ecoliterature make ecocriticism a comprehensive catchall term that proposes to look at a text--be it social, cultural, political, religious, or scientific--from naturalist perspectives and moves us from “the community of literature to the larger biospheric community which […] we belong to even as we are destroying it” (William Rueckert). As I was in the middle of writing and researching for this article, I was struck by a piece of nature writing by an eleven year old sixth grader born to his (South Asian and American) mixed parents, both affiliated with Johns Hopkins and already proud to belong to the extended family of a Nobel Laureate in Physics. The young boy, Rizwan Thorne-Lyman, wrote, as his science story project, an incredibly beautiful essay, “A Day in the Life of the Amazon Rainforest.” Reading about the rainforest was one of his interests, I was told. In describing the day-long activities of birds and animals among the tall trees and small plants, the 2 pp.-long narrative actually captures the eternally continuing natural cycle of the Amazon. The budding naturalist’s neat classification of the wild life into producers (leafy fruit and flowering plants and trees), consumers (caimans/crocodiles, leafcutter ants, capuchin monkey), predators (macaws, harpy eagles, jaguars, green anaconda), decomposers (worms, fungi and bacteria), parasites (phorid flies) and scavengers (millipedes) was found to be unforgettably impressive. Also the organization of the essay into the Amazon’s mutually benefitting and organically functioning flora and fauna during the day--sunrise, midday, and sunset--was unmistakably striking. I congratulated him as an aspiring environmentalist specializing in rain forest. I encouraged him that he should try to get his essay published in a popular magazine like Reader’s Digest (published did he get in no time indeed![i]) and that he should also read about (and visit) Borneo in Southeast Asia, home to other great biodiverse rainforests of the world. I called him “soft names” as a future Greenpeace and Environmental Protection leader and theorist, a soon-to-be close friend of Al Gore’s. The promising boy’s understanding, however short, of the Amazon ecology and ecosystem and the biological phenomena of its living organisms was really amazing. His essay reminded me of other famous nature writings, especially those by Fiona Macleod (see below), that are the pleasure of those interested in the ecocriticism of the literature of place--dooryards, backyards, outdoors, open fields, parks and farms, fields and pastures, and different kinds of other wildernesses.   [i] https://stonesoup.com/post/a-day-in-the-life-in-the-amazon-rainforest/

scholarly journals Chance or Necessity—The Fungi Co−Occurring with Formica polyctena Ants

Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 204
Author(s):  
Igor Siedlecki ◽  
Michał Gorczak ◽  
Alicja Okrasińska ◽  
Marta Wrzosek
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Identification ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Its Rdna ◽  
The Other ◽  
Formica Polyctena ◽  
Ant Nests ◽  
Mutualistic Fungi ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
High Diversity ◽  
Better Than

Studies on carton nesting ants and domatia−dwelling ants have shown that ant–fungi interactions may be much more common and widespread than previously thought. Until now, studies focused predominantly on parasitic and mutualistic fungi–ant interactions occurring mostly in the tropics, neglecting less−obvious interactions involving the fungi common in ants’ surroundings in temperate climates. In our study, we characterized the mycobiota of the surroundings of Formica polyctena ants by identifying nearly 600 fungal colonies that were isolated externally from the bodies of F. polyctena workers. The ants were collected from mounds found in northern and central Poland. Isolated fungi were assigned to 20 genera via molecular identification (ITS rDNA barcoding). Among these, Penicillium strains were the most frequent, belonging to eight different taxonomic sections. Other common and widespread members of Eurotiales, such as Aspergillus spp., were isolated very rarely. In our study, we managed to characterize the genera of fungi commonly present on F. polyctena workers. Our results suggest that Penicillium, Trichoderma, Mucor, Schwanniomyces and Entomortierella are commonly present in F. polyctena surroundings. Additionally, the high diversity and high frequency of Penicillium colonies isolated from ants in this study suggest that representatives of this genus may be adapted to survive in ant nests environment better than the other fungal groups, or that they are preferentially sustained by the insects in nests.

Advances in understanding plant root responses to root-feeding insects

2021 ◽  
pp. 231-266
Author(s):  
Scott N. Johnson ◽  
◽  
Ximena Cibils-Stewart ◽  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Root ◽  
Plant Roots ◽  
Insect Herbivores ◽  
Soil Environment ◽  
Knowledge Gaps ◽  
Root Herbivores ◽  
Mutualistic Fungi ◽  
Root Responses ◽  
Insect Attack ◽  
Root Feeding

This chapter presents an overview of the interactions between plant roots and root-feeding insect herbivores, focussing on changes in growth and physiology and crucially how roots are defended against insect attack. Several reviews have covered the ecology and management of insect root herbivores, together with their interactions with the abiotic and biotic soil environment. Therefore, the chapter focuses particularly on advances in our understanding of how plant mutualistic fungi may affect root-herbivores. This is an emerging area of research, with many attendant knowledge gaps, but we argue that this is an important component of how plants resist attack by belowground insect herbivores.

Does the Coffee Berry Borer (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) Have Mutualistic Fungi?

2005 ◽  
Vol 98 (4) ◽  
pp. 483-490 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeanneth Pérez ◽  
Francisco Infante ◽  
Fernando E. Vega
Keyword(s):  
Coffee Berry ◽  
Coffee Berry Borer ◽  
Mutualistic Fungi

Spatial patterns of pathogenic and mutualistic fungi across the elevational range of a host plant

2018 ◽  
Vol 106 (4) ◽  
pp. 1545-1557 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominik Merges ◽  
Miklós Bálint ◽  
Imke Schmitt ◽  
Katrin Böhning-Gaese ◽  
Eike Lena Neuschulz
Keyword(s):  
Host Plant ◽  
Spatial Patterns ◽  
Mutualistic Fungi ◽  
Elevational Range

scholarly journals Disentangling nutritional pathways linking leafcutter ants and their co-evolved fungal symbionts using stable isotopes

Ecology ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 99 (9) ◽  
pp. 1999-2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Z. Shik ◽  
Winnie Rytter ◽  
Xavier Arnan ◽  
Anders Michelsen
Keyword(s):  
Stable Isotopes ◽  
Leafcutter Ants

Phylogeny of leafcutter ants in the genus Atta Fabricius (Formicidae: Attini) based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences

2009 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 427-437 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maurício Bacci ◽  
Scott E. Solomon ◽  
Ulrich G. Mueller ◽  
Vanderlei G. Martins ◽  
Alfredo O.R. Carvalho ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Nuclear Dna ◽  
Leafcutter Ants

Are workers of Atta leafcutter ants capable of reproduction?

2006 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 136-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. B. Dijkstra ◽  
J. J. Boomsma
Keyword(s):  
Leafcutter Ants

Influence of Parasitic and Mutualistic Fungi on Artemisia tridentata During High Precipitation Years

1987 ◽  
Vol 114 (3) ◽  
pp. 272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael F. Allen ◽  
Edith B. Allen ◽  
Neil E. West
Keyword(s):  
Artemisia Tridentata ◽  
Mutualistic Fungi ◽  
High Precipitation
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