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Comparing the diversity of gut microbiota between and within social insect colonies can illustrate interactions between bacterial community composition and host behaviour. In many eusocial insect species, different workers exhibit different task behaviours. Evidence of compositional differences between core microbiota in different worker types could suggest a microbial association with the division of labour among workers. Here, we present the core microbiota ofAphaenogaster piceaant workers with different task behaviours. The genusAphaenogasteris abundant worldwide, yet the associated microbiota of this group is unstudied. Bacterial communities fromAphaenogaster piceagut samples in this study consist of 19 phyla, dominated by Proteobacteria, Cyanobacteria and Firmicutes. Analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences reveals distinct similarity clustering ofAphaenogaster piceagut bacterial communities in workers that have more interactions with the refuse piles. Though gut bacterial communities of nurse and foraging ants are similar in overall composition and structure, the worker groups differ in relative abundances of dominant taxa. Gut bacterial communities from ants that have more interactions with refuse piles are dominated by amplicon sequence variants associated with Entomoplasmataceae. Interaction with faecal matter via refuse piles seems to have the greatest impact on microbial taxa distribution, and this effect appears to be independent of worker type. This is the first report surveying the gut microbiome community composition ofAphaenogasterants.
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Viral diversity and co‐evolutionary dynamics across the ant phylogeny
Abstract Knowledge of viral biodiversity within insects, particularly within ants, is extremely limited with only a few environmental viruses from invasive ant species identified to date. This study documents and explores the viral communities in ants. We comprehensively profile the metagenomes of a phylogenetically broad group of 35 ant species with varied ecological traits and report the discovery of 3710 novel and unique ant‐associated viral genomes. These previously unknown viruses discovered within this study constitute over 95% of all currently described ant viruses, significantly increasing our knowledge of the ant virosphere. The identified RNA and DNA viruses fill gaps in insect‐associated viral phylogenies and uncover evolutionary histories characterized by both frequent host switching and co‐divergence. Many ants also host diverse bacterial communities, and we discovered that approximately one‐third of these new ant‐associated viruses are bacteriophages. Two ecological categories, bacterial abundance in the host and habitat degradation are both correlated with ant viral diversity and help to structure viral communities within ants. These data demonstrate that the ant virosphere is remarkably diverse phylogenetically and genomically and provide a substantial foundation for studies in virus ecology and evolution within eukaryotes. We highlight the importance of studying insect‐associated viruses in natural ecosystems in order to more thoroughly and effectively understand host‐microbe evolutionary dynamics.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2210800
- PAR ID:
- 10537092
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley-Blackwell
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Molecular Ecology
- ISSN:
- 0962-1083
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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