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Introduced Pheidole of the world: taxonomy, biology and distribution.

ABSTRACT: The objective of this study is to provide a detailed taxonomic resource for identifying and studying ants in the genus Pheidole that have established beyond their native ranges. There is an increasing need for systematists to study taxa of specific concern to 21(st) century environmental, food security and public health challenges. Systematics has an important role to play in both the theoretical and applied disciplines of invasion biology. Few invaders impact terrestrial ecosystems more than ants. Among the world's 100 worst invasive species is the cosmopolitan and highly destructive Pheidole megacephala (Fabricius). Accurate identification of Pheidole megacephala is imperative for the success of screening, management and eradication programs designed to protect native ecosystems from the impacts of this destructive species. However, accurate identification of Pheidole species is difficult because of their taxonomic diversity, dimorphic worker caste and lack of taxonomic resources. Illustrated keys are included, along with the taxonomic history, taxonomic diagnoses, biological notes and risk statements for the 14 most invasive members of the genus. Global distribution maps based on over 14,000 specimen and literature records are presented for each species. These results of this work will facilitate identification of pest species, determination of climatic and habitat requirements, discovery of pest origins, horizon scanning and assessment of invasion pathways. The following new synonym is proposed, with the senior synonym listed first and the junior synonyms in parentheses: Pheidole indica Mayr (= Pheidole teneriffana Forel, and its synonyms Pheidole taina Aguayo and Pheidole voeltzkowii Forel). Pheidole navigans Forel, stat. rev., stat. n. is removed from synonymy and elevated to species rank. It is proposed that records of Pheidole moerens Forel outside of the Mesoamerica and the Caribbean refer instead to Pheidole navigans or other heterospecific taxa in the Pheidole flavens species complex. We propose that the names Pheidole anastasii Emery and Pheidole floridana Emery have been widely misapplied to North American outdoor records of Pheidole bilimeki Mayr. It is suggested that the synonymy of Pheidole lauta Wheeler be transferred from Pheidole floridana Emery to Pheidole bilimeki Mayr.

SUBMITTER: Sarnat EM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4714327 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Introduced Pheidole of the world: taxonomy, biology and distribution.

Sarnat Eli M EM Fischer Georg G Fischer Georg G Guénard Benoit B Economo Evan P EP

ZooKeys 20151209 543

The objective of this study is to provide a detailed taxonomic resource for identifying and studying ants in the genus Pheidole that have established beyond their native ranges. There is an increasing need for systematists to study taxa of specific concern to 21(st) century environmental, food security and public health challenges. Systematics has an important role to play in both the theoretical and applied disciplines of invasion biology. Few invaders impact terrestrial ecosystems more than an ...[more]

PMID: 26798286

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Project description:Cyanuric acid is an industrial chemical produced during the biodegradation of s-triazine pesticides. The biodegradation of cyanuric acid has been elucidated using a single model system, Pseudomonas sp. strain ADP, in which cyanuric acid hydrolase (AtzD) opens the s-triazine ring and AtzEG deaminates the ring-opened product. A significant question remains as to whether the metabolic pathway found in Pseudomonas sp. ADP is the exception or the rule in bacterial genomes globally. Here, we show that most bacteria utilize a different pathway, metabolizing cyanuric acid via biuret. The new pathway was determined by reconstituting the pathway in vitro with purified enzymes and by mining more than 250,000 genomes and metagenomes. We isolated soil bacteria that grow on cyanuric acid as a sole nitrogen source and showed that the genome from a Herbaspirillum strain had a canonical cyanuric acid hydrolase gene but different flanking genes. The flanking gene trtB encoded an enzyme that we show catalyzed the decarboxylation of the cyanuric acid hydrolase product, carboxybiuret. The reaction generated biuret, a pathway intermediate further transformed by biuret hydrolase (BiuH). The prevalence of the newly defined pathway was determined by cooccurrence analysis of cyanuric acid hydrolase genes and flanking genes. Here, we show the biuret pathway was more than 1 order of magnitude more prevalent than the original Pseudomonas sp. ADP pathway. Mining a database of over 40,000 bacterial isolates with precise geospatial metadata showed that bacteria with concurrent cyanuric acid and biuret hydrolase genes were distributed throughout the United States.IMPORTANCE Cyanuric acid is produced naturally as a contaminant in urea fertilizer, and it is used as a chlorine stabilizer in swimming pools. Cyanuric acid-degrading bacteria are used commercially in removing cyanuric acid from pool water when it exceeds desired levels. The total volume of cyanuric acid produced annually exceeds 200 million kilograms, most of which enters the natural environment. In this context, it is important to have a global understanding of cyanuric acid biodegradation by microbial communities in natural and engineered systems. Current knowledge of cyanuric acid metabolism largely derives from studies on the enzymes from a single model organism, Pseudomonas sp. ADP. In this study, we obtained and studied new microbes and discovered a previously unknown cyanuric acid degradation pathway. The new pathway identified here was found to be much more prevalent than the pathway previously established for Pseudomonas sp. ADP. In addition, the types of environment, taxonomic prevalences, and geospatial distributions of the different cyanuric acid degradation pathways are described here.

Dataset Information

Introduced Pheidole of the world: taxonomy, biology and distribution.

Publications

Introduced Pheidole of the world: taxonomy, biology and distribution.

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