title: Fungal communities in gardens of the leafcutter ant Atta cephalotes in forest and cabruca agrosystems of southern Bahia State (Brazil).
abstract: Leaf-cutting ants interact with several fungi in addition to the fungal symbiont they cultivate for food. Here, we assessed alien fungal communities in colonies of Atta cephalotes. Fungus garden fragments were sampled from colonies in the Atlantic Rainforest and in a cabruca agrosystem in the state of Bahia (Brazil) in two distinct periods to evaluate whether differences in nest habitat influence the diversity of fungi in the ant colonies. We recovered a total of 403 alien fungi isolates from 628 garden fragments. The prevalent taxa found in these samples were Escovopsis sp. (26 %), Escovopsioides nivea (24 %), and Trichoderma spirale (10.9 %). Fungal diversity was similar between the colonies sampled in both areas suggesting that ants focus on reducing loads of alien fungi in the fungus gardens instead of avoiding specific fungi. However, fungal taxa composition differed between colonies sampled in the two areas and between the sampling periods. These differences are likely explained by the availability of plant substrates available for foraging over habitats and periods. Ordination analysis further supported that sampling period was the main attribute for community structuring but also revealed that additional factors may explain the structuring of fungal communities in colonies of A. cephalotes.
authors.affiliation: UESC - Santa Cruz State University, Department of Biological Sciences, Ilhéus, BA 45662-900, Brazil.
authors.forename: Bárbara Monique Dos Santos
authors.initials: BMDS
authors.lastname: Reis
authors.affiliation: UESC - Santa Cruz State University, Department of Biological Sciences, Ilhéus, BA 45662-900, Brazil.
authors.forename: Aline
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.affiliation: UESC - Santa Cruz State University, Department of Biological Sciences, Ilhéus, BA 45662-900, Brazil.
authors.forename: Martín Roberto
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Alvarez
authors.affiliation: UNESP - São Paulo State University, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rio Claro, SP 13560-900, Brazil.
authors.forename: Tássio Brito de
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.affiliation: UNESP - São Paulo State University, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rio Claro, SP 13560-900, Brazil; UNESP - São Paulo State University, Center for the Study of Social Insects, Rio Claro, SP 13560-900, Brazil. Electronic address: andrer@rc.unesp.br.
authors.forename: Andre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001000:Ants / Q000145:classification / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000502:physiology; D044822:Biodiversity; D001938:Brazil; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005658:Fungi / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000469:parasitology
keywords: Alien fungi; Atlantic Rainforest; Escovopsis; Fungus garden; Interaction; Symbiosis