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Citation for Study 19555

Citation title: "Recognition of endophytic Trichoderma species by leaf-cutting ants and their potential in a Trojan-horse management strategy".

Study name: "Recognition of endophytic Trichoderma species by leaf-cutting ants and their potential in a Trojan-horse management strategy".

This study is part of submission 19555 (Status: Published).

Citation

Rocha S.L., Evans H., Jorge V.L., Cardoso L.A., Pereira F.S., Rocha F.B., Barreto R.W., Hart A.G., & Elliot S.L. 2017. Recognition of endophytic Trichoderma species by leaf-cutting ants and their potential in a Trojan-horse management strategy. Royal Society Open Science, 4(4): 14.

Authors

• Rocha S.L.
• Evans H.
• Jorge V.L.
• Cardoso L.A.
• Pereira F.S.
• Rocha F.B. (submitter) 3138992625
• Barreto R.W.
• Hart A.G.
• Elliot S.L.

Abstract

Interactions between leaf-cutting ants, their fungal symbiont (Leucoagaricus) and the endophytic fungi within the vegetation they carry into their colonies are still poorly understood. If endophytes antagonistic to Leucoagaricus were found in plant material being carried by these ants, then this might indicate a potential mechanism for plants to defend themselves from leaf-cutter attack. In addition, it could offer possibilities for the management of these important Neotropical pests. Here, we show that, for Atta sexdens rubropilosa, there was a significantly greater incidence of Trichoderma species in the vegetation removed from the nests?and deposited around the entrances?than in that being transported into the nests. In a no-choice test, Trichoderma-infested rice was taken into the nest, with deleterious effects on both the fungal gardens and ant survival. The endophytic ability of selected strains of Trichoderma was also confirmed, following their inoculation and subsequent reisolation from seedlings of eucalyptus. These results indicate that endophytic fungi which pose a threat to ant fungal gardens through their antagonistic traits, such as Trichoderma, have the potential to act as bodyguards of their plant hosts and thus might be employed in a Trojanhorse strategy to mitigate the negative impact of leaf-cutting ants in both agriculture and silviculture in the Neotropics. We posit that the ants would detect and evict such ?malign? endophytes?artificially inoculated into vulnerable crops?during the quality-control process within the nest, and, moreover, that the foraging ants may then be deterred from further harvesting of ?Trichoderma-enriched? plants.

Keywords

fungal bodyguards; Leucoagaricus; pest management; silviculture; Trichoderma endophytes

External links

• DOI: 10.5061/dryad.0164h

About this resource

• Canonical resource URI: http://purl.org/phylo/treebase/phylows/study/TB2:S19555
• Other versions: Nexus NeXML
• Show BibTeX reference

  		@ARTICLE{TreeBASE2Ref26092,
  	 author = {Silma Leite Rocha and Harry C.  Evans and Vanessa L Jorge and Lucimar A.O. Cardoso and Fernanda S.T. Pereira and Fabiano Branco Rocha and Robert W. Barreto and Adam G. Hart and Simon L Elliot},
  	 title = {Recognition of endophytic Trichoderma species by leaf-cutting ants and their potential in a Trojan-horse management strategy},
  	 year = {2017},
  	 keywords = {fungal bodyguards; Leucoagaricus; pest management; silviculture; Trichoderma endophytes},
  	 doi = {10.5061/dryad.0164h},
  	 url = {http://},
  	 pmid = {},
  	 journal = {Royal Society Open Science},
  	 volume = {4},
  	 number = {4},
  	 pages = {14},
  	 abstract = {Interactions between leaf-cutting ants, their fungal symbiont (Leucoagaricus) and the endophytic fungi within the vegetation they carry into their colonies are still poorly understood. If endophytes antagonistic to Leucoagaricus were found in plant material being carried by these ants, then this might indicate a potential mechanism for plants to defend themselves from leaf-cutter attack. In addition, it could offer possibilities for the management of these important Neotropical pests. Here, we show that, for Atta sexdens rubropilosa, there was a significantly greater incidence of Trichoderma species in the vegetation removed from the nests?and deposited around the entrances?than in that being transported into the nests. In a no-choice test, Trichoderma-infested rice was taken into the nest, with deleterious effects on both the fungal gardens and ant survival. The endophytic ability of selected strains of Trichoderma was also confirmed, following their inoculation and subsequent reisolation from seedlings of eucalyptus. These results indicate that endophytic fungi which pose a threat to ant fungal gardens through their antagonistic traits, such as Trichoderma, have the potential to act as bodyguards of their plant hosts and thus might be employed in a Trojanhorse strategy to mitigate the negative impact of leaf-cutting ants in both agriculture and silviculture in the Neotropics. We posit that the ants would detect and evict such ?malign? endophytes?artificially inoculated into vulnerable crops?during the quality-control process within the nest, and, moreover, that the foraging ants may then be deterred from further harvesting of ?Trichoderma-enriched? plants.}
  }
  		

• Show RIS reference

  		TY  - JOUR
  ID  - 26092
  AU  - Rocha,Silma Leite
  AU  - Evans,Harry C. 
  AU  - Jorge,Vanessa L
  AU  - Cardoso,Lucimar A.O.
  AU  - Pereira,Fernanda S.T.
  AU  - Rocha,Fabiano Branco
  AU  - Barreto,Robert W.
  AU  - Hart,Adam G.
  AU  - Elliot,Simon L
  T1  - Recognition of endophytic Trichoderma species by leaf-cutting ants and their potential in a Trojan-horse management strategy
  PY  - 2017
  KW  - fungal bodyguards; Leucoagaricus; pest management; silviculture; Trichoderma endophytes
  UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.0164h
  N2  - Interactions between leaf-cutting ants, their fungal symbiont (Leucoagaricus) and the endophytic fungi within the vegetation they carry into their colonies are still poorly understood. If endophytes antagonistic to Leucoagaricus were found in plant material being carried by these ants, then this might indicate a potential mechanism for plants to defend themselves from leaf-cutter attack. In addition, it could offer possibilities for the management of these important Neotropical pests. Here, we show that, for Atta sexdens rubropilosa, there was a significantly greater incidence of Trichoderma species in the vegetation removed from the nests?and deposited around the entrances?than in that being transported into the nests. In a no-choice test, Trichoderma-infested rice was taken into the nest, with deleterious effects on both the fungal gardens and ant survival. The endophytic ability of selected strains of Trichoderma was also confirmed, following their inoculation and subsequent reisolation from seedlings of eucalyptus. These results indicate that endophytic fungi which pose a threat to ant fungal gardens through their antagonistic traits, such as Trichoderma, have the potential to act as bodyguards of their plant hosts and thus might be employed in a Trojanhorse strategy to mitigate the negative impact of leaf-cutting ants in both agriculture and silviculture in the Neotropics. We posit that the ants would detect and evict such ?malign? endophytes?artificially inoculated into vulnerable crops?during the quality-control process within the nest, and, moreover, that the foraging ants may then be deterred from further harvesting of ?Trichoderma-enriched? plants.
  L3  - 10.5061/dryad.0164h
  JF  - Royal Society Open Science
  VL  - 4
  IS  - 4
  ER  -