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Unraveling Culturable Microfungal Communities Associated with Colonies of the Fungus-Farming Ant Mycetomoellerius urichii (Forel, 1893).

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Title: Unraveling Culturable Microfungal Communities Associated with Colonies of the Fungus-Farming Ant Mycetomoellerius urichii (Forel, 1893).
Authors: da Cruz, Mateus Oliveira1 (AUTHOR), Montoya, Quimi Vidaurre1 (AUTHOR), de Sousa, Raquel Lima2 (AUTHOR), Pennachioni, Gabriel Giorgio Pressuto1 (AUTHOR), Rodrigues, Andre1 (AUTHOR) andre.rodrigues@unesp.br
Source: Microbial Ecology. 5/7/2026, Vol. 89 Issue 1, p1-12. 12p.
Subject Terms: *Fungal communities, *Symbiosis, *Ants, *Microbial diversity, *Fungal cultures, *Trichoderma
Abstract: Microfungal communities inhabit the fungus gardens of fungus-growing ants (Formicidae: Myrmicinae: Attini: Attina, the "attines") and may play cryptic yet important ecological roles within this symbiosis. While the diversity and composition of these microorganisms are relatively well characterized in leaf-cutting ant colonies, they remain poorly understood in non-leaf-cutting attine species, including Mycetomoellerius urichii. To address this gap, we investigated the microfungal communities in colonies of M. urichii using culture-dependent methods. Based on analyses of four independent molecular loci, we identified 94 microfungal species, with Trichoderma spirale, Syncephalastrum sp., and Cladosporium sp. as the most abundant taxa. Several of the microfungi found in this study have also been reported from leaf-cutting ant colonies. The microfungal communities were dominated by fungi exhibiting a multitrophic lifestyle (pathotroph–saprotroph–symbiotroph). Community composition showed considerable variation among colonies, with no consistent species co-occurrence patterns detected. Together, these findings provide the first community-level characterization of culturable microfungi inhabiting the fungus gardens of M. urichii and offer new insights into the microbial communities associated with the fungus-farming ant symbiosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Database: Energy & Power Source
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Items – Name: Title
  Label: Title
  Group: Ti
  Data: Unraveling Culturable Microfungal Communities Associated with Colonies of the Fungus-Farming Ant Mycetomoellerius urichii (Forel, 1893).
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  Label: Authors
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22da+Cruz%2C+Mateus+Oliveira%22">da Cruz, Mateus Oliveira</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Montoya%2C+Quimi+Vidaurre%22">Montoya, Quimi Vidaurre</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22de+Sousa%2C+Raquel+Lima%22">de Sousa, Raquel Lima</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Pennachioni%2C+Gabriel+Giorgio+Pressuto%22">Pennachioni, Gabriel Giorgio Pressuto</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Rodrigues%2C+Andre%22">Rodrigues, Andre</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> andre.rodrigues@unesp.br</i>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Microbial+Ecology%22">Microbial Ecology</searchLink>. 5/7/2026, Vol. 89 Issue 1, p1-12. 12p.
– Name: Subject
  Label: Subject Terms
  Group: Su
  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Fungal+communities%22">Fungal communities</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Symbiosis%22">Symbiosis</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Ants%22">Ants</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Microbial+diversity%22">Microbial diversity</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Fungal+cultures%22">Fungal cultures</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Trichoderma%22">Trichoderma</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: Microfungal communities inhabit the fungus gardens of fungus-growing ants (Formicidae: Myrmicinae: Attini: Attina, the "attines") and may play cryptic yet important ecological roles within this symbiosis. While the diversity and composition of these microorganisms are relatively well characterized in leaf-cutting ant colonies, they remain poorly understood in non-leaf-cutting attine species, including Mycetomoellerius urichii. To address this gap, we investigated the microfungal communities in colonies of M. urichii using culture-dependent methods. Based on analyses of four independent molecular loci, we identified 94 microfungal species, with Trichoderma spirale, Syncephalastrum sp., and Cladosporium sp. as the most abundant taxa. Several of the microfungi found in this study have also been reported from leaf-cutting ant colonies. The microfungal communities were dominated by fungi exhibiting a multitrophic lifestyle (pathotroph–saprotroph–symbiotroph). Community composition showed considerable variation among colonies, with no consistent species co-occurrence patterns detected. Together, these findings provide the first community-level characterization of culturable microfungi inhabiting the fungus gardens of M. urichii and offer new insights into the microbial communities associated with the fungus-farming ant symbiosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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        Value: 10.1007/s00248-026-02776-5
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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      – SubjectFull: Fungal communities
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Symbiosis
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      – SubjectFull: Ants
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      – SubjectFull: Fungal cultures
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      – SubjectFull: Trichoderma
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      – TitleFull: Unraveling Culturable Microfungal Communities Associated with Colonies of the Fungus-Farming Ant Mycetomoellerius urichii (Forel, 1893).
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            NameFull: de Sousa, Raquel Lima
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            NameFull: Pennachioni, Gabriel Giorgio Pressuto
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              M: 05
              Text: 5/7/2026
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              Y: 2026
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