Acetylcholinesterases from Leaf-Cutting ant Atta sexdens: Purification, Characterization, and Capillary Reactors for On-Flow Assays.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Dos Santos AM
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6633970 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:To allow estimation of the complexity and gene expression differences of the antennal transcriptome between sexes as well as between castes, microarrays were designed based on an assembly of A. vollenweideri antennal sequence data from all sexes and castes. The microarrays were hybridized with samples generated from the respecitve antennal tissues, with four independent sample pools per sex and caste.
2013-10-01 | GSE48824 | GEO
Project description:Claustral foundation of nests by Atta sexdens Forel (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) involves great effort by its queens, solely responsible for the cultivation of the fungus and care for her offspring at this stage. The minimum workers, after 4 months, open access to the external environment to foraging plants to cultivate the symbiotic fungus, which decomposes the plant fragments and produces gongilidea nodules as food for the individuals in the colony. Colony gas exchange and decomposition of organic matter in underground ant nests generate carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted into the atmosphere. We described the carbon dioxide concentration in colonies in the field. The objective was to evaluate the carbon dioxide concentration in initial A. sexdens colonies, in the field, and their development. The CO2 level was also measured in 4-month-old colonies in the field, using an open respirometric system fitted with an atmospheric air inlet. The CO2 level of the respirometric container was read by introducing a tube into the nest inlet hole and the air sucked by a peristaltic pump into the CO2 meter box. The CO2 concentration in the initial colony was also measured after 4 months of age, when the offspring production (number of eggs, larvae, pupae and adult workers) stabilized. Ten perforations (15 cm deep) was carried out in the adjacent soil, without a nest of ants nearby, to determine the concentration of CO2. The composition of the nests in the field was evaluated after excavating them using a gardening shovel and they were stored in 250 ml pots with 1 cm of moistened plaster at the bottom. The CO2 concentration was higher in field nest than in adjacent soil. The concentration of carbon dioxide in A. sexdens nests in the field is higher than in those in the soil, due to the production of CO2 by the fungus garden and colony.
| S-EPMC8523712 | biostudies-literature
Project description:To allow estimation of the complexity and gene expression differences of the antennal transcriptome between sexes as well as between castes, microarrays were designed based on an assembly of A. vollenweideri antennal sequence data from all sexes and castes. The microarrays were hybridized with samples generated from the respecitve antennal tissues, with four independent sample pools per sex and caste. Custom 2x105 k Agilent microarrays (Agilent Technologies, Palo Alto, CA) were designed based on the antennal transcriptome data of A.vollenweideri. For all contigs with an identified ORF by automatic annotation, two 60mer oligo probes were designed, with two additional 60mer oligo probes for opposite reading direction for those with unknown ORF, thus resulting in 4 oligo probes per contig. Additionally, we added three 60mer oligo probes for each identified and revised OR coding gene, resulting in a total of 5 oligo probes per OR coding contig. For design and arrangement of the Agilent microarrays, the eArray software (Agilent Technologies, Palo Alto, CA) was used. For sex- and caste-specific antennal microarray hybridizations, RNA from antennae of 50 (Males) to 300 (Tiny Workers) individuals was pooled per preparation, and four pools (replicates) each were dissected per sex and caste, respectively. Double purified total RNA was added to Agilent Technologies spike-in RNA and labeld using QuickAmp Amplification kit (Agilent Technologies) and the Kreatech ULS Fluorescent Labeling Kit with cyanine 3-CTP dye following the manufacturer´s instructions. Amplified cRNA samples were used for microarray hybridization, scanned with the Agilent Microarray Scanner and data was extracted from TIFF images with Agilent Feature Extraction software version 9.1. Raw data output files were analyzed using the GeneSpring GX11 and GeneSifter microarray analysis softwares.
2013-10-01 | E-GEOD-48824 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:Leaf-cutting ants are evolutionary derived social insects with elaborated division of labor and tremendous colony sizes with millions of workers. Their social organization is mainly based on olfactory communication using different pheromones and is promoted by a pronounced size-polymorphism of workers that perform different tasks within the colony. The size polymorphism and associated behaviors are correlated to distinct antennal lobe (AL) phenotypes. Two worker phenotypes differ in number of olfactory glomeruli in the AL and the presence or absence of an extremely large glomerulus (macroglomerulus), involved in trail-pheromone reception. The males' AL contains three macroglomeruli which are presumably involved in detection of sex-pheromone components. We investigated the antennal transcriptome data of all major castes (males, queens and workers) and two worker subcastes (large and tiny workers). In order to identify putative odorant receptor genes involved in pheromone detection, we identified differentially expressed odorant receptor genes (OR-genes) using custom microarrays. In total, we found 185 OR-gene fragments that are clearly related to ORs and we identified orthologs for 70 OR-genes. Among them one OR-gene differs in relative expression between the two worker subcastes by a factor of >3 and thus is a very promising candidate gene for the trail-pheromone receptor. Using the relative expression of OR-genes in males versus queens, we identified 2 candidates for sex-pheromone receptor genes in males. In addition, we identified genes from all other chemosensory related gene families (13 chemosensory protein genes, 8 odorant binding protein genes, 2 sensory-neuron membrane protein genes, 7 ionotropic receptor genes, 2 gustatory receptor genes), and we found ant-specific expansions in the chemosensory protein gene family. In addition, a large number of genes involved in immune defense exhibited differential expression across the three different castes, and some genes even between the two worker subcastes.
| S-EPMC3829964 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundThe leaf-cutter ant Atta laevigata (Formicidae: Attini) is an agricultural pest largely distributed in the Neotropics and a model organism for studies of evolution, speciation and population genetics. Microsatellites are a very powerful tool for these kind of studies, but such markers are not available for studies on A. laevigata. In the present report, we describe the isolation and characterization of nine microsatellite loci in A. laevigata and the testing of these markers across other species of leaf-cutter ants.FindingsNine microsatellite loci, consisting of six dinucloeotide, one trinucleotide, one tetranucleotide, and one di/trinucleotide repeat motifs, were isolated and characterized. Primers and protocols were successfully designed to selectively amplify these markers. To test effectiveness of these markers for detailed population genetic studies, we genotyped female workers collected from 36 monogynic nests of A. laevigata and found that eight loci were within Hardy-Weinberg expectations, while the remaining locus had a deficiency of heterozygotes. Micro-Checker analysis of individuals from 55 monogynic nests indicated that loci Alae11, Alae24, Alae18 showed signs of null alleles. For the remaining six loci, the number of alleles per locus ranged between 2 and 11, with expected heterozygosity ranging between 0.07 and 0.88. All of these loci cross-amplified in other species of Atta.ConclusionsThese six polymorphic microsatellite loci should prove useful for future genetic investigations of the pest species Atta laevigata, as well as studies of other species of leaf-cutter ants in the genus Atta.
| S-EPMC3751492 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Certain species of parasitic flies belonging to the Phoridae are known to attack Atta spp. workers foraging along trails, near nest openings used by the ants to supply the colony with plant material, and in the areas where the ants are actively cutting plant material. However, there have been no previous studies of phorid parasitism of non-foraging worker ants, for example excavators and soldiers. Excavators can be found on the surface around specialized nest openings, carrying and dumping soil on characteristic mounds. Soldiers can be found on the trails protecting foragers or guarding the different types of nest openings. The current study was performed to investigate the differential parasitism rates of Atta laevigata (Smith, 1858) worker castes by four species of phorids. Ants of all castes on trails and at nest entrances were collect from 18 mature colonies in the field. A total of 21,254 ants were collected from trails and 14,649 collected from the mounds of loose soil near nest openings. The captured workers were maintained under controlled laboratory conditions to evaluate the rate of parasitism. Of the ants collected from trails, 1,112 (5.23%) were found to have been parasitized, of which 1,102 were foragers and only 10 were soldiers. Of the ants collected from the soil mounds near the nest openings, only 27 (0.18%) were found to have been parasitized, of those 25 were excavators and 2 were soldiers. When evaluating parasitism of ants on the trails, 46.2% were attacked by Apocephalus attophilus Borgmeier, 1928, 22.6% by Myrmosicarius grandicornis Borgmeier, 1928, 16.6% by Eibesfeldtphora erthali (Brown, 2001) and 14.6% by Apocephalus vicosae Disney, 2000. Only two species of phorid, M. grandicornis and E. erthali, were observed parasitizing excavators, whilst only E. erthali parasitized soldiers. This is the first time that Atta spp. excavators and soldiers have been shown to be parasitized by phorids. The low rates of parasitism and specificity of certain phorid species for excavators and soldiers is discussed in relation to the behavioral interactions of hosts and their parasitoids, as well as the relationship between host and parasitoid size.
| S-EPMC8099092 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Leaf-cutting ants of the genera Acromyrmex and Atta live in mutualistic symbiosis with a basidiomycete fungus (Leucocoprinus gongylophorus), which they cultivate as fungal gardens in underground nest chambers. The ants provide the fungus with a growth substrate consisting of freshly cut leaf fragments. After new leaf fragments are brought into the nest, the ants chew them into smaller pieces and apply droplets of fecal fluid to the leaf pulp before depositing this mixed substrate in the fungus garden and inoculating it with small tufts of mycelium from older parts of the garden. Previous work has shown that the fecal fluid contains a range of digestive enzymes including proteases, amylases, chitinases, cellulases, pectinases, hemicellulases and laccases, and that most of these enzymes are produced by the fungal symbiont in specialized structures called gongylidia that the ants eat. After ingestion, the enzymes apparently pass unharmed through the alimentary channel of the ants and end up in the fecal fluid. Most likely this complex system is an adaptation of the ant-fungus symbiosis to a herbivorous lifestyle, as the ancient ancestors of the ants and the fungus lived as hunter-gatherers and saprotrophs, respectively. The promise of fecal fluid for getting insight into the molecular adaptations that enables the ant-fungus holosymbiont to live as a herbivore, led us to investigate the fecal fluid proteome using LC-MS/MS in order to get a more comprehensive picture of the repertoire of proteins present.
2021-01-12 | PXD016395 | Pride
Project description:The Chaco leaf-cutting ant Atta vollenweideri is native to the clay-heavy soils of the Gran Chaco region in South America. Because of seasonal floods, colonies are regularly exposed to varying moisture across the soil profile, a factor that not only strongly influences workers' digging performance during nest building, but also determines the suitability of the soil for the rearing of the colony's symbiotic fungus. In this study, we investigated the effects of varying soil moisture on behaviours associated with underground nest building in A. vollenweideri. This was done in a series of laboratory experiments using standardised, plastic clay-water mixtures with gravimetric water contents ranging from relatively brittle material to mixtures close to the liquid limit. Our experiments showed that preference and group-level digging rate increased with increasing water content, but then dropped considerably for extremely moist materials. The production of vibrational recruitment signals during digging showed, on the contrary, a slightly negative linear correlation with soil moisture. Workers formed and carried clay pellets at higher rates in moist clay, even at the highest water content tested. Hence, their weak preference and low group-level excavation rate observed for that mixture cannot be explained by any inability to work with the material. More likely, extremely high moistures may indicate locations unsuitable for nest building. To test this hypothesis, we simulated a situation in which workers excavated an upward tunnel below accumulated surface water. The ants stopped digging about 12 mm below the interface soil/water, a behaviour representing a possible adaptation to the threat of water inflow field colonies are exposed to while digging under seasonally flooded soils. Possible roles of soil water in the temporal and spatial pattern of nest growth are discussed.
| S-EPMC3991694 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Social groups are vulnerable to cheating because the reproductive interests of group members are rarely identical. All cooperative systems are therefore predicted to involve a mix of cooperative and cheating genotypes, with the frequency of the latter being constrained by the suppressive abilities of the former. The most significant potential conflict in social insect colonies is over which individuals become reproductive queens rather than sterile workers. This reproductive division of labor is a defining characteristic of eusocial societies, but individual larvae will maximize their fitness by becoming queens whereas their nestmates will generally maximize fitness by forcing larvae to become workers. However, evolutionary constraints are thought to prevent cheating by removing genetic variation in caste propensity. Here, we show that one-fifth of leaf-cutting ant patrilines cheat their nestmates by biasing their larval development toward becoming queens rather than workers. Two distinct mechanisms appear to be involved, one most probably involving a general tendency to become a larger adult and the other relating specifically to the queen-worker developmental switch. Just as evolutionary theory predicts, these "royal" genotypes are rare both in the population and within individual colonies. The rarity of royal cheats is best explained as an evolutionary strategy to avoid suppression by cooperative genotypes, the efficiency of which is frequency-dependent. The results demonstrate that cheating can be widespread in even the most cooperative of societies and illustrate that identical principles govern social evolution in highly diverse systems.
| S-EPMC2278208 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Leaf-cutting ants (Atta spp.) are known for their extensive defoliation in neo-tropical forests and savannahs. Debate about the costs and benefits of their activities has been largely dominated by their detrimental effects on agriculture and agroforestry. However, the large accumulation of nutrients and changes in soil properties near their nests might benefit plants growing near them. Here, we test whether trees use nutrients that accumulate in debris piles near, or refuse chambers within, leaf-cutting ant nests. At two tropical sites (a moist tropical forest site in Panama and a savannah site in Brazil), we fed leaves labelled with the stable isotope 15N to two species of leaf-cutting ants (Atta colombica and Atta laevigata) and traced the stable isotope label in plants surrounding the two nests. Thus, we show that plants in both sites access resources associated with Atta nests. In addition, leaf tissue of trees near the nests labelled with 15N had significantly higher calcium concentrations than those of distal, unlabelled conspecifics. It has been documented that calcium is a limiting macronutrient in tropical forests and savannahs. Atta may thus play an important ecological role through their long-distance transport, redistribution and concentration of critical macronutrients.
| S-EPMC1702380 | biostudies-literature