Metabolism of Plant Polysaccharides by Leucoagaricus gongylophorus, the Symbiotic Fungus of the Leaf-Cutting Ant Atta sexdens L.
AUTOR(ES)
Gomes De Siqueira, Célia
FONTE
American Society for Microbiology
RESUMO
Atta sexdens L. ants feed on the fungus they cultivate on cut leaves inside their nests. The fungus, Leucoagaricus gongylophorus, metabolizes plant polysaccharides, such as xylan, starch, pectin, and cellulose, mediating assimilation of these compounds by the ants. This metabolic integration may be an important part of the ant-fungus symbiosis, and it involves primarily xylan and starch, both of which support rapid fungal growth. Cellulose seems to be less important for symbiont nutrition, since it is poorly degraded and assimilated by the fungus. Pectin is rapidly degraded but slowly assimilated by L. gongylophorus, and its degradation may occur so that the fungus can more easily access other polysaccharides in the leaves.
ACESSO AO ARTIGO
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=90928Documentos Relacionados
- Energetic cost of digging behavior in workers of the leaf-cutting ant Atta sexdens (Fabricius)
- Inhibition of the symbiotic fungus of leaf-cutting ants by coumarins
- Analysis of the Gene Expression and RNAi-Mediated Knockdown of Chitin Synthase from Leaf-Cutting Ant Atta sexdens
- Isolation of compounds attractive to the leaf-cutting ant Atta sexdens rubropilosa forel (hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Mabea fistulifera elaiosome
- Isoenzymatic polymorphism in the leaf-cutting ant Atta capiguara Gonçalves (hymenoptera: formicidae)