DISSERTATION RESEARCH: The evolution of plant-ants: mutualism and the gut microbiome

论文研究：植物蚂蚁的进化：互利共生和肠道微生物组

• 批准号: 1311417
• 负责人: Corrie Moreau
• 金额: $ 2.05万
• 依托单位: University of Chicago
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-06-01 至 2015-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1311417&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DISSERTATION; RESEARCH; evolution; plant; ants

Ants are the most numerous animals in many terrestrial ecosystems. For example, they comprise more than 90% of insects in the canopy of tropical rain forests. This numerical dominance means that not all ants can be predators, as was once thought. Some species must instead feed on nutrient poor, plant-based resources. Acacia-ants are a good example. They live in acacia trees and feed exclusively on resources provided by these trees. In exchange for nesting space in the trees and food (mostly nectar), the ants aggressively protect host trees against insects that eat leaves, and against competing plants and disease-causing fungus. However, the nutritional content of the nectar provided by acacias is insufficient for the ants, raising the question of how colonies of acacia-ants obtain enough nourishment to sustain themselves. A possible clue comes from recent work with other animals, including humans, showing that bacteria living in the gut help to extract important nutrients from food. This research will determine whether acacia-ants also depend on bacterial partners for dietary enrichment, and how such partnerships have evolved.This study will help us understand how animals -- perhaps including humans, some day -- can live on nutritionally poor food. Because ants are influential and dominant members of many ecosystems, understanding how they obtain nutrition is essential for generating a comprehensive picture of energy flow through the environment. More generally, this work will teach us about the ever-increasing role of bacteria in our lives and in the natural world; the importance of bacteria in the evolution of all animals is just beginning to be appreciated. The researchers on this project will mentor students in research and will share their results through presentations to the public and through a blog about ants on the worldwide web.

蚂蚁是许多陆地生态系统中众多动物。 例如，它们在热带雨林的树冠中占90％以上的昆虫。这种数值优势意味着并非所有蚂蚁都可以是捕食者，就像曾经想到的那样。 有些物种必须以营养贫困，基于植物性的资源为食。相思是一个很好的例子。他们生活在相思树上，仅以这些树提供的资源为食。为了换取树木和食物中的筑巢空间（主要是花蜜），蚂蚁积极保护宿主树木免受食用叶子的昆虫的影响，并免受竞争性植物和引起疾病的真菌。但是，相当性提供的花蜜的营养含量不足以使蚂蚁提出一个问题，即相思 - 如何获得足够的滋养以维持自己的问题。可能的线索来自最近与其他动物（包括人类）的工作，表明生活在肠道中的细菌有助于从食物中提取重要的营养。这项研究将确定相思 - 是否还依靠细菌伴侣的饮食富集，以及这种伙伴关系如何发展。这项研究将有助于我们了解动物（包括人类，有一天）如何生活在营养贫穷的食物上。 由于蚂蚁是许多生态系统的有影响力和主导成员，因此了解它们如何获得营养对于在环境中的全面图景中至关重要。更笼统地，这项工作将教会我们有关细菌在我们生活和自然世界中不断增加的作用。细菌在所有动物的进化中的重要性才开始被人们理解。 该项目的研究人员将指导学生研究，并通过向公众和全球网络上有关蚂蚁的博客分享结果。