Bacteria tend leafcutter ants' gardens

Summary:

Well we finally know what the bacteria is for on the floor of the ground! Its all for the leaf cutters ants to consume and work a bit harder."This research provides some of the first tangible details about the fascinating symbiotic relationship between leafcutter ants, fungi and bacteria," said Kristin Burnum."The researchers sequenced their genetic samples at Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory's DOE Joint Genome Institute. With the help of an extensive library of bacterial genes developed by co-author Cameron Currie, team members at University of Wisconsin-Madison identified thousands of bacterial genetic sequences from the two ant gardens" said the journalist.

Critque:

Now we know why we dont remove the cutter ants from the ground when we see the them.


Impact:

Nothing