Department of Entomology

Title:  “Antibiotics from fungus-growing ant symbionts: new molecules with unusual genetic origins”

Abstract: Bacterial symbionts of fungus-growing ants mediate pathogen suppression in their hosts' fungal gardens. The chemical defenses from these bacteria provide an opportunity for discovery of novel antibiotics with clinical potential in humans and also provide a window into the chemical ecology of a defensive symbiosis. A survey of bacterial symbionts of the ant Apterostigma dentigerum from Panama and Costa Rica has revealed novel antifungal and antibacterial molecules with apparent niche defense roles that also show intriguing therapeutic potential. We see high population-level diversity of antibiotic production from these bacterial symbionts, and genomic analyses strongly point toward horizontal gene transfer as a mechanism for chemical diversification.