Department of General Biology, Instituto de Bitecnologia Aplicada à Agropecuária, Federal University of Viçosa, Viçosa, Brazil.
Department of Engineering and Technology, Rural Federal University of the Semi-arid, Mossoró, Brazil.
Arthropod Struct Dev. 2023 Sep;76:101301. doi: 10.1016/j.asd.2023.101301. Epub 2023 Sep 1.
Hemocytes are cells present in the hemolymph of insects that play a role in combating invasive pathogens, ensuring defense by the immune system in these organisms. While the types of hemocytes are well known in some insect representatives, data on these cells in Hymenoptera are limited to certain bees and wasps, with little information available for ants. Among ants, the genus Atta has environmental and economic importance, forming highly organized colonies consisting of the queen and workers, with the latter subdivided into subcastes: gardeners, waste removers, foragers, and soldiers, which are exposed to different pathogens. This study describes the morphology of hemocytes in the worker subcastes of Atta sexdens rubropilosa. Hemolymph samples from the ant were submitted to light, confocal, and scanning electron microscopy analyses. Five types of hemocytes were identified in the hemolymph of all ant subcastes, including prohemocytes, oenocytoids, spherulocytes, plasmatocytes, and granulocytes. They exhibited nuclei with a predominance of decondensed chromatin. The granulocytes were the most abundant cell type in the subcastes, followed by prohemocytes, plasmatocytes, oenocytoids, and spherulocytes. Phagocytosis assays reveal that plasmatocytes and granulocytes are the main phagocytic cells in all castes evaluated. This study fills an important gap in understanding the immune response in this ant species.
血细胞是存在于昆虫血淋巴中的细胞，在抵御入侵病原体方面发挥作用，确保这些生物体的免疫系统进行防御。虽然某些昆虫代表中的血细胞类型已广为人知，但膜翅目昆虫的数据仅限于某些蜜蜂和黄蜂，而有关蚂蚁的信息则很少。在蚂蚁中，Atta 属具有环境和经济重要性，形成由蚁后和工蚁组成的高度组织化的蚁群，后者细分为园艺蚁、清道夫蚁、觅食蚁和兵蚁，它们会接触到不同的病原体。本研究描述了 Atta sexdens rubropilosa 工蚁亚级的血细胞形态。从蚂蚁中采集血淋巴样本，进行光镜、共聚焦和扫描电子显微镜分析。在所有蚂蚁亚级的血淋巴中均鉴定出 5 种血细胞，包括原血细胞、浆血细胞、球形血细胞、浆细胞和粒血细胞。它们的细胞核显示出解凝聚染色质的优势。在亚级中，粒血细胞是最丰富的细胞类型，其次是原血细胞、浆细胞、浆血细胞和球形血细胞。吞噬作用分析表明，在所有评估的等级中，浆细胞和粒血细胞是主要的吞噬细胞。这项研究填补了对该蚂蚁物种免疫反应理解的重要空白。
