Departamento de Entomologia, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Instituto de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Florestal, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
J Basic Microbiol. 2020 Nov;60(11-12):931-937. doi: 10.1002/jobm.202000541. Epub 2020 Nov 1.
Leaf-cutting ants have a beneficial and obligatory relationship with the fungus that they grow. This mutualism allowed the evolutionary success of these ants. The great defoliation capacity of these insects, which often exceeds the level of tolerable economic damage, includes them as severe pests in many cultures. However, given the close relationship between these two agents of mutualism, it is expected that an impact on the fungus will reflect on the performance of the colony as a whole. Therefore, the effect of azadirachtin on the development, and the macronutrient composition of Leucoagaricus gongylophorus was evaluated. Azadirachtin reduced the final fungal mass at the end of treatment at all concentrations tested, but did not reduce the final growth area. A reduction in the amount of hyphae produced with increasing azadirachtin concentration was also observed. Regarding macronutrients, the compound did not affect their total amount in the fungus. Thus, it is observed that azadirachtin did not alter the composition of L. gongylophorus macronutrients, but inhibited its growth by reducing the number of hyphae produced. This reduction reflects directly on the amount of nutrients offered to the workers and the queen and may improve the management of these insects.
切叶蚁与它们所培育的真菌之间存在着有益且必需的关系。这种互利共生关系使这些蚂蚁得以成功进化。这些昆虫具有很强的落叶能力，经常超出可容忍的经济损害水平，因此在许多文化中，它们都被视为严重的害虫。然而，鉴于这两种共生体之间的密切关系，可以预期对真菌的影响会反映在整个群体的表现上。因此，评估了印楝素对 Leucoagaricus gongylophorus 的发育和大量营养素组成的影响。印楝素在所有测试浓度下都降低了处理结束时最终真菌质量，但没有降低最终生长面积。还观察到随着印楝素浓度的增加，产生的菌丝数量减少。关于大量营养素，该化合物并未影响真菌中的总量。因此，观察到印楝素没有改变 L. gongylophorus 大量营养素的组成，而是通过减少产生的菌丝数量来抑制其生长。这种减少直接反映在提供给工蚁和蚁后的营养物质数量上，可能有助于这些昆虫的管理。
