Nature Communications (Mar 2018)

Herbivorous turtle ants obtain essential nutrients from a conserved nitrogen-recycling gut microbiome

  • Yi Hu,
  • Jon G. Sanders,
  • Piotr Łukasik,
  • Catherine L. D’Amelio,
  • John S. Millar,
  • David R. Vann,
  • Yemin Lan,
  • Justin A. Newton,
  • Mark Schotanus,
  • Daniel J. C. Kronauer,
  • Naomi E. Pierce,
  • Corrie S. Moreau,
  • John T. Wertz,
  • Philipp Engel,
  • Jacob A. Russell

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03357-y
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9, no. 1
pp. 1 – 14

Abstract

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Gut bacteria are prevalent across insects including ants, but their precise roles are often unclear. Here, Hu et al. show that microbes aid ants by recycling nitrogen into bio-available amino acids. This function is conserved across the turtle ants, suggesting an ancient nutritional mutualism.