Drexel University, Department of Biology, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Appl Environ Microbiol. 2011 Jan;77(1):346-50. doi: 10.1128/AEM.01896-10. Epub 2010 Nov 12.
In this article, we describe the distributions of Entomoplasmatales bacteria across the ants, identifying a novel lineage of gut bacteria that is unique to the army ants. While our findings indicate that the Entomoplasmatales are not essential for growth or development, molecular analyses suggest that this relationship is host specific and potentially ancient. The documented trends add to a growing body of literature that hints at a diversity of undiscovered associations between ants and bacterial symbionts.
在本文中,我们描述了 Entomoplasmatales 细菌在蚂蚁中的分布,鉴定出一种独特的新型肠道细菌谱系,它只存在于行军蚁中。虽然我们的研究结果表明 Entomoplasmatales 对于蚂蚁的生长和发育并非必不可少,但分子分析表明这种关系具有宿主特异性,并且可能具有古老的起源。有记录的趋势增加了越来越多的文献,这些文献暗示了蚂蚁和细菌共生体之间存在多样性的未被发现的关联。