Evolutionary History of the Symbiosis Between
Fungus-Growing Ants and Their Fungi.
Ignacio H. Chapela, Stephen A. Rehner, Ted R. Schultz,
Ulrich G. Mueller
Systematic Botany and Mycology Laboratory, USDA, Beltsville MD 20705
Systematic Botany and Mycology Laboratory, USDA, Beltsville MD 20705
Deptartment of Entomology, Cornell University, Ithaca NY 14853
Section of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell Univerisity,
Ithaca NY 14853
Science 266: 1691-1694 (1994)
Abstract
The evolutionary history of the symbiosis between fungus-growing
ants (Attini) and their fungi was elucidated by comparing
phylogenies of both symbionts. The fungal phylogeny based
on cladistic analyses of nuclear 28S ribosomal DNA indicates
that, in contrast with the monophyly of the ants, the attine
fungi are polyphyletic. Most cultivated fungi belong to the
basidiomycete family Lepiotaceae; however, one ant genus,
Apterostigma, has acquired a distantly related basidiomycete lineage.
Phylogenetic patters suggest that some primitive attines may have
repeatedly acquired lepiotaceous symbionts. In contrast, the
most derived attines have clonally propagated the same fungal
lineage for at least 23 million years.
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