Reciprocal genomic evolution in the ant-fungus agricultural symbiosis
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Reciprocal genomic evolution in the ant-fungus agricultural symbiosis. / Nygaard, Sanne; Hu, Haofu; Li, Cai; Schiøtt, Morten; Chen, Zhensheng; Yang, Zhikai; Xie, Qiaolin; Ma, Chunyu; Deng, Yuan; Dikow, Rebecca B.; Rabeling, Christian; Nash, David Richard; Wcislo, William T.; Brady, Seán G.; Schultz, Ted R.; Zhang, Guojie; Boomsma, Jacobus Jan.
In: Nature Communications, Vol. 7, 12233, 2016.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Reciprocal genomic evolution in the ant-fungus agricultural symbiosis
AU - Nygaard, Sanne
AU - Hu, Haofu
AU - Li, Cai
AU - Schiøtt, Morten
AU - Chen, Zhensheng
AU - Yang, Zhikai
AU - Xie, Qiaolin
AU - Ma, Chunyu
AU - Deng, Yuan
AU - Dikow, Rebecca B.
AU - Rabeling, Christian
AU - Nash, David Richard
AU - Wcislo, William T.
AU - Brady, Seán G.
AU - Schultz, Ted R.
AU - Zhang, Guojie
AU - Boomsma, Jacobus Jan
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - The attine ant-fungus agricultural symbiosis evolved over tens of millions of years, producing complex societies with industrial-scale farming analogous to that of humans. Here we document reciprocal shifts in the genomes and transcriptomes of seven fungus-farming ant species and their fungal cultivars. We show that ant subsistence farming probably originated in the early Tertiary (55-60 MYA), followed by further transitions to the farming of fully domesticated cultivars and leaf-cutting, both arising earlier than previously estimated. Evolutionary modifications in the ants include unprecedented rates of genome-wide structural rearrangement, early loss of arginine biosynthesis and positive selection on chitinase pathways. Modifications of fungal cultivars include loss of a key ligninase domain, changes in chitin synthesis and a reduction in carbohydrate-degrading enzymes as the ants gradually transitioned to functional herbivory. In contrast to human farming, increasing dependence on a single cultivar lineage appears to have been essential to the origin of industrial-scale ant agriculture.
AB - The attine ant-fungus agricultural symbiosis evolved over tens of millions of years, producing complex societies with industrial-scale farming analogous to that of humans. Here we document reciprocal shifts in the genomes and transcriptomes of seven fungus-farming ant species and their fungal cultivars. We show that ant subsistence farming probably originated in the early Tertiary (55-60 MYA), followed by further transitions to the farming of fully domesticated cultivars and leaf-cutting, both arising earlier than previously estimated. Evolutionary modifications in the ants include unprecedented rates of genome-wide structural rearrangement, early loss of arginine biosynthesis and positive selection on chitinase pathways. Modifications of fungal cultivars include loss of a key ligninase domain, changes in chitin synthesis and a reduction in carbohydrate-degrading enzymes as the ants gradually transitioned to functional herbivory. In contrast to human farming, increasing dependence on a single cultivar lineage appears to have been essential to the origin of industrial-scale ant agriculture.
U2 - 10.1038/ncomms12233
DO - 10.1038/ncomms12233
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 27436133
VL - 7
JO - Nature Communications
JF - Nature Communications
SN - 2041-1723
M1 - 12233
ER -
ID: 165716537