NDLI: Towards a molecular understanding of symbiont function: Identification of a fungal gene for the degradation of xylan in the fungus gardens of leaf-cutting ants

Content Provider	Springer Nature : BioMed Central
Author	Schiøtt, Morten De Fine Licht, Henrik H Lange, Lene Boomsma, Jacobus J
Abstract	Leaf-cutting ants live in symbiosis with a fungus that they rear for food by providing it with live plant material. Until recently the fungus' main inferred function was to make otherwise inaccessible cell wall degradation products available to the ants, but new studies have shed doubt on this idea. To provide evidence for the cell wall degrading capacity of the attine ant symbiont, we designed PCR primers from conserved regions of known xylanase genes, to be used in PCR with genomic DNA from the symbiont as template. We also measured xylanase, cellulase and proteinase activities in the fungus gardens in order to investigate the dynamics of degradation activities. We cloned a xylanase gene from the mutualistic fungus of Acromyrmex echinatior, determined its protein sequence, and inserted it in a yeast expression vector to confirm its substrate specificity. Our results show that the fungus has a functional xylanase gene. We also show by lab experiments in vivo that the activity of fungal xylanase and cellulase is not evenly distributed, but concentrated in the lower layer of fungus gardens, with only modest activity in the middle layer where gongylidia are produced and intermediate activity in the newly established top layer. This vertical distribution appears to be negatively correlated with the concentration of glucose, which indicates a directly regulating role of glucose, as has been found in other fungi and has been previously suggested for the ant fungal symbiont. The mutualistic fungus of Acromyrmex echinatior has a functional xylanase gene and is thus presumably able to at least partially degrade the cell walls of leaves. This finding supports a saprotrophic origin of the fungal symbiont. The observed distribution of enzyme activity leads us to propose that leaf-substrate degradation in fungus gardens is a multi-step process comparable to normal biodegradation of organic matter in soil ecosystems, but with the crucial difference that a single fungal symbiont realizes most of the steps that are normally provided by a series of microorganisms that colonize fallen leaves in a distinct succession.
Related Links	https://bmcmicrobiol.biomedcentral.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/1471-2180-8-40.pdf
Ending Page	10
Page Count	10
Starting Page	1
File Format	HTM / HTML
ISSN	14712180
DOI	10.1186/1471-2180-8-40
Journal	BMC Microbiology
Issue Number	1
Volume Number	8
Language	English
Publisher	BioMed Central
Publisher Date	2008-02-28
Access Restriction	Open
Subject Keyword	Microbiology Biological Microscopy Mycology Parasitology Virology Life Sciences Cellulase Xylanase Activity Cell Wall Material Glycoside Hydrolase Family Fungal Symbiont
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Microbiology Microbiology (medical)
Journal Impact Factor	4/2023
5-Year Journal Impact Factor	4.6/2023

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