Herbivorous turtle ants obtain essential nutrients from a conserved nitrogen-recycling gut microbiome

Gut bacteria are prevalent across insects including ants, but their precise roles are often unclear. Here, Hu et al. show that microbes aid ants by recycling nitrogen into bio-available amino acids. This function is conserved across the turtle ants, suggesting an ancient nutritional mutualism.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yi Hu, Jon G. Sanders, Piotr Łukasik, Catherine L. D’Amelio, John S. Millar, David R. Vann, Yemin Lan, Justin A. Newton, Mark Schotanus, Daniel J. C. Kronauer, Naomi E. Pierce, Corrie S. Moreau, John T. Wertz, Philipp Engel, Jacob A. Russell
Format: article
Language:EN
Published: Nature Portfolio 2018
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Q
Online Access:https://doaj.org/article/d9b391e19cbc4dceb4b083246b646635
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