Ant handling changes myrmecochore seed coat microbiomes and alters diversity of seed-borne plant pathogenic fungi

Lash, Chloe L.; Cregger, Melissa A.; Kinkopf, Anne M.; Buerger, Nicole; Klingeman, Dawn Marie; Kwit, Charles

doi:10.1111/1365-2435.14517

Title: Ant handling changes myrmecochore seed coat microbiomes and alters diversity of seed-borne plant pathogenic fungi

Journal Article · Mon Feb 05 00:00:00 EST 2024 · Functional Ecology

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.14517· OSTI ID:2317754

^[1];

^[2]; Kinkopf, Anne M. ^[3]; Buerger, Nicole ^[4];

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Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States); Univ. of St. Francis, Joliet, IL (United States)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
West Virginia Univ., Morgantown, WV (United States)
Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE), WI (United States)
Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)

Abstract The putative benefits to seeds in myrmecochory (ant‐mediated seed dispersal) are often cast in a reward context. However, microbes have been mostly overlooked as seed mortality agents in myrmecochory, as have potential treatments provided by ant‐handling. We investigated the effects of ant handling on the diversity of seed coat fungal communities of three myrmecochorous plant species. Ant‐handling altered measures of both alpha and beta diversity of fungal communities. Ant‐handled seeds harboured different overall fungal communities and plant pathogen communities than non‐ant‐handled seeds. The myrmecochore pathogenic fungal community showed high dissimilarity (high pairwise community turnover) between ant‐handled and control seeds, while beta diversity measures for ant‐handled seeds and seeds with manually removed elaiosomes were less dissimilar. Ant handling may offer an additional benefit to myrmecochorous seeds via the reduction in the seed coat pathogenic community, which may be driven by elaiosome removal or as a by‐product of ant cleaning behaviours and chemical secretions. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

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Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725

OSTI ID:: 2317754

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 2290398

Journal Information:: Functional Ecology, Journal Name: Functional Ecology; ISSN 0269-8463

Publisher:: British Ecological Society; WileyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Title: Ant handling changes myrmecochore seed coat microbiomes and alters diversity of seed-borne plant pathogenic fungi

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