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With the dead under the mat: the zombie ant extended phenotype under a new perspective.
Andriolli, Fernando Sarti; Cardoso Neto, José Aragão; de Morais, José Wellington; Baccaro, Fabricio Beggiato.
Affiliation
  • Andriolli FS; Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia - INPA, Coordenação de Biodiversidade - COBIO, Av. André Araújo 2936, PetrópolisManaus, AM, 69083-000, Brazil. andriollifernando@gmail.com.
  • Cardoso Neto JA; Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Amazonas - IFAM/CMA, Estradas Dos Moraes, S/N, Senador José Esteves, Maués, AM, 69190-000, Brazil.
  • de Morais JW; Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia - INPA, Coordenação de Biodiversidade - COBIO, Av. André Araújo 2936, PetrópolisManaus, AM, 69083-000, Brazil.
  • Baccaro FB; Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal Do Amazonas (UFAM), Av. General Rodrigo Octávio, Manaus, AM, 620069.080-900, Brazil.
Naturwissenschaften ; 111(4): 33, 2024 Jun 21.
Article in En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38904668
ABSTRACT
Some parasitic fungi can increase fitness by modifying the behavior of their hosts. These behaviors are known as extended phenotypes because they favor parasitic gene propagation. Here, we studied three lineages of Ophiocordyceps, a fungus that infects ants, altering their conduct before death. According to fungal strategy, ants may die in leaf litter, with entwined legs in branches, under the moss mat, or biting plant tissue. It is critical for parasites that the corpses stay at these places because Ophiocordyceps exhibit iteroparity, possibly releasing spores in multiple life cycles. Thus, we assumed substrate cadaver permanence as a fungi reproductive proxy and corpse height as a proxy of cadaver removal. We hypothesize that biting vegetation and dying in higher places may increase the permanence of ant corpses while avoiding possible corpse predation on the forest floor. We monitored over a year more than 4000 zombie ants in approximately 15 km2 of undisturbed tropical forest in central Amazonia. Our results show a longer permanence of corpses with increasing ground height, suggesting that the parasites may have better chances of releasing spores and infecting new hosts at these places. We found that the zombie ants that last longer on the substrate die under the moss mat in tree trunks, not necessarily biting vegetation. The biting behavior appears to be the most derived and complex mechanism among Ophiocordyceps syndromes. Our results put these findings under a new perspective, proposing that seemingly less complex behavioral changes are ecologically equivalent and adaptative for other parasite lineages.
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Full text: 1 Collection: 01-internacional Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Ants / Phenotype Limits: Animals Country/Region as subject: America do sul / Brasil Language: En Journal: Naturwissenschaften Year: 2024 Document type: Article Affiliation country: Brazil Country of publication: Germany

Full text: 1 Collection: 01-internacional Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Ants / Phenotype Limits: Animals Country/Region as subject: America do sul / Brasil Language: En Journal: Naturwissenschaften Year: 2024 Document type: Article Affiliation country: Brazil Country of publication: Germany