title: Microorganisms transported by ants induce changes in floral nectar composition of an ant-pollinated plant.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Interactions between plants and ants abound in nature and have significant consequences for ecosystem functioning. Recently, it has been suggested that nectar-foraging ants transport microorganisms to flowers; more specifically, they transport yeasts, which can potentially consume sugars and alter nectar composition. Therefore, ants could indirectly change nectar sugar profile, an important floral feature involved in the plant-pollinator mutualism. But this novel role for ants has never been tested. We here investigate the effects of nectarivorous ants and their associated yeasts on the floral nectar sugar composition of an ant-pollinated plant.
  
  
  METHODS
  Differences in the nectar sugar composition of ant-excluded and ant-visited flowers were examined in 278 samples by using high-performance liquid-chromatography. The importance of the genetic identity and density of ant-transported basidiomycetous and ascomycetous yeasts on the variation of nectar traits was also evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ant visitation had significant effects on nectar sugar composition. The nectar of ant-visited flowers contained significantly more fructose, more glucose, and less sucrose than the nectar of ant-excluded flowers, but these effects were context dependent. Nectar changes were correlated with the density of yeast cells in nectar. The magnitude of the effects of ant-transported ascomycetes was much higher than that of basiodiomycetes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Ants and their associated yeasts induce changes in nectar sugar traits, reducing the chemical control of the plant over this important floral trait. The potential relevance of this new role for ants as indirect nectar modifiers is a rich topic for future research into the ecology of ant-flower interactions.
authors.affiliation: Estación Biológica de Doñana, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Avenida de Américo Vespucio s/n 41092 Sevilla, Spain. cvega@ebd.csic.es
authors.forename: Clara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: de Vega
authors.forename: Carlos M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Herrera
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001000:Ants / Q000382:microbiology*; D050260:Carbohydrate Metabolism; D019684:Magnoliopsida / Q000378:metabolism*; D057048:Plant Nectar / Q000378:metabolism*; D013559:Symbiosis; D015003:Yeasts / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D057048:Plant Nectar