TY - JOUR AU - Barke, Jörg AU - Seipke, Ryan F. AU - Grüschow, Sabine AU - Heavens, Darren AU - Drou, Nizar AU - Bibb, Mervyn J. AU - Goss, Rebecca JM AU - Yu, Douglas W. AU - Hutchings, Matthew I. PY - 2010 DA - 2010/08/26 TI - A mixed community of actinomycetes produce multiple antibiotics for the fungus farming ant Acromyrmex octospinosus JO - BMC Biology SP - 109 VL - 8 IS - 1 AB - Attine ants live in an intensely studied tripartite mutualism with the fungus Leucoagaricus gongylophorus, which provides food to the ants, and with antibiotic-producing actinomycete bacteria. One hypothesis suggests that bacteria from the genus Pseudonocardia are the sole, co-evolved mutualists of attine ants and are transmitted vertically by the queens. A recent study identified a Pseudonocardia-produced antifungal, named dentigerumycin, associated with the lower attine Apterostigma dentigerum consistent with the idea that co-evolved Pseudonocardia make novel antibiotics. An alternative possibility is that attine ants sample actinomycete bacteria from the soil, selecting and maintaining those species that make useful antibiotics. Consistent with this idea, a Streptomyces species associated with the higher attine Acromyrmex octospinosus was recently shown to produce the well-known antifungal candicidin. Candicidin production is widespread in environmental isolates of Streptomyces, so this could either be an environmental contaminant or evidence of recruitment of useful actinomycetes from the environment. It should be noted that the two possibilities for actinomycete acquisition are not necessarily mutually exclusive. SN - 1741-7007 UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/1741-7007-8-109 DO - 10.1186/1741-7007-8-109 ID - Barke2010 ER -