Dentigerumycin: a bacterial mediator of an ant-fungus symbiosis.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Oh DC
PROVIDER: S-EPMC2748230 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jun
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Dentigerumycin: a bacterial mediator of an ant-fungus symbiosis.
Oh Dong-Chan DC Poulsen Michael M Currie Cameron R CR Clardy Jon J
Nature chemical biology 20090329 6
Fungus-growing ants engage in mutualistic associations with both the fungus they cultivate for food and actinobacteria (Pseudonocardia spp.) that produce selective antibiotics to defend that fungus from specialized fungal parasites. We have analyzed one such system at the molecular level and found that the bacterium associated with the ant Apterostigma dentigerum produces dentigerumycin, a cyclic depsipeptide with highly modified amino acids, to selectively inhibit the associated parasitic fungu ...[more]
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