Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 3 July 1970:
Vol. 169. no. 3940, pp. 16 - 20
DOI: 10.1126/science.169.3940.16
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Articles

The Biochemical Basis of the Fungus-Attine Ant Symbiosis

A complex symbiosis is based upon integration of the carbon and nitrogen metabolisms of the two organisms

Michael M. Martin 1

1 Departments of chemistry and zoology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

The natural history of the fungus-growing ants provides a spectacular example of a symbiotic association of two very different types of organisms. An anthropomorphic description is difficult to resist. The ants are efficient and industrious farmers. Their single crop is a fungus, grown on a substrate of leaves in carefully fertilized, welltended gardens. Virtually every facet of the ants' behavior and life cycle has been shaped by their association with the fungus they culture. A characteristic feature of the ants' gardening technique is the application of their fecal material to the garden and to substrate being prepared for incorporation into the garden. We have established the biochemical significance of this behavior. The fecal material contains proteolytic enzymes which compensate for a deficiency of such enzymes in the fungus. In addition, the nitrogenous components in the fecal material facilitate the initial growth of the fungus. In biochemical terms, then, one can say that the ants contribute their enzymatic apparatus to degrade protein and the fungus contributes its enzymatic apparatus to degrade cellulose. As in the case of so many other natural symbiotic and parasitic associations, the basis is an integration of complementary metabolic capabilities and deficiencies.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Pathogenicity of Escovopsis weberi: The parasite of the attine ant-microbe symbiosis directly consumes the ant-cultivated fungus.
H. T. Reynolds and C. R. Currie (2004)
Mycologia 96, 955-959
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Evolutionary History of the Symbiosis Between Fungus-Growing Ants and Their Fungi.
I. H. Chapela, S. A. Rehner, T. R. Schultz, and U. G. Mueller (1994)
Science 266, 1691-1694
   Abstract »    PDF »
Pollination by Ants: A Low-Energy System.
J. C. Hickman (1974)
Science 184, 1290-1292
   Abstract »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)