Symbiotic nitrogen fixation in the fungus gardens of leaf-cutter ants
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| Auteurs: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | artículo original |
| Date de publication: | 2009 |
| Description: | Bacteria-mediated acquisition of atmospheric N2 serves as a critical source of nitrogen in terrestrial ecosystems. Here we reveal that symbiotic nitrogen fixation facilitates the cultivation of specialized fungal crops by leaf-cutter ants. By using acetylene reduction and stable isotope experiments, we demonstrated that N2 fixation occurred in the fungus gardens of eight leaf-cutter ant species and, further, that this fixed nitrogen was incorporated into ant biomass. Symbiotic N2-fixing bacteria were consistently isolated from the fungus gardens of 80 leaf-cutter ant colonies collected in Argentina, Costa Rica, and Panama. The discovery of N2 fixation within the leaf-cutter ant−microbe symbiosis reveals a previously unrecognized nitrogen source in neotropical ecosystems. |
| Pays: | Kérwá |
| Institution: | Universidad de Costa Rica |
| Repositorio: | Kérwá |
| Langue: | Inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:kerwa.ucr.ac.cr:10669/102654 |
| Accès en ligne: | https://hdl.handle.net/10669/102654 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1173036 |
| Mots-clés: | symbiotic nitrogen fixation leaf-cutter ants fungus gardens nitrogen source neotropical ecosystem |