title: A phylogenetic perspective on the association between ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and black yeasts (Ascomycota: Chaetothyriales).
abstract: The frequency and the geographical extent of symbiotic associations between ants and fungi of the order Chaetothyriales have been highlighted only recently. Using a phylogenetic approach based on seven molecular markers, we showed that ant-associated Chaetothyriales are scattered through the phylogeny of this order. There was no clustering according to geographical origin or to the taxonomy of the ant host. However, strains tended to be clustered according to the type of association with ants: strains from ant-made carton and strains from plant cavities occupied by ants ('domatia') rarely clustered together. Defining molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTUs) with an internal transcribed spacer sequence similarity cut-off of 99% revealed that a single MOTU could be composed of strains collected from various ant species and from several continents. Some ant-associated MOTUs also contained strains isolated from habitats other than ant-associated structures. Altogether, our results suggest that the degree of specialization of the interactions between ants and their fungal partners is highly variable. A better knowledge of the ecology of these interactions and a more comprehensive sampling of the fungal order are needed to elucidate the evolutionary history of mutualistic symbioses between ants and Chaetothyriales.
authors.affiliation: CEFE UMR 5175, CNRS-Université de Montpellier-Université Paul Valéry Montpellier-EPHE, 1919 Route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vasse
authors.affiliation: Division of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, 1030 Wien, Austria.
authors.forename: Hermann
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Voglmayr
authors.affiliation: Division of Structural and Functional Botany, Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, 1030 Wien, Austria.
authors.forename: Veronika
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Mayer
authors.affiliation: National Facilities and Collections, National Research Collections Australia, Australian National Herbarium, CSIRO, PO Box 1700, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2601, Australia.
authors.forename: Cécile
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gueidan
authors.affiliation: Division of Structural and Functional Botany, Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, 1030 Wien, Austria.|Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, University of Vienna, Althanstraße 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Maximilian
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nepel
authors.affiliation: CBS Fungal Biodiversity Centre, PO Box 85167, 3508 AD Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Leandro
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Moreno
authors.affiliation: CBS Fungal Biodiversity Centre, PO Box 85167, 3508 AD Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Sybren
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: de Hoog
authors.affiliation: Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB-UMR 7205-CNRS, MNHN, UPMC, EPHE), Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Sorbonne Universités, 57 Rue Cuvier (CP50), 75005 Paris, France.|Department of Plant Taxonomy and Nature Conservation, University of Gdansk, ul. Wita Stwosza 59, 80-308 Gdańsk, Poland.
authors.forename: Marc-André
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Selosse
authors.affiliation: CEFE UMR 5175, CNRS-Université de Montpellier-Université Paul Valéry Montpellier-EPHE, 1919 Route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
authors.forename: Doyle
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: McKey
authors.affiliation: CEFE UMR 5175, CNRS-Université de Montpellier-Université Paul Valéry Montpellier-EPHE, 1919 Route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier Cedex 5, France rumsais.blatrix@cefe.cnrs.fr.
authors.forename: Rumsaïs
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1662-7791
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Blatrix
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001000:Ants / Q000145:classification*; D001203:Ascomycota / Q000145:classification*; D005075:Biological Evolution; D010802:Phylogeny; D013559:Symbiosis
keywords: Chaetothyriales; ant-plant; mutualism; phylogeny; symbiosis