Research progress on ant symbiotic microorganisms

Abstract

<p indent="0mm">Ants are one of the most abundant groups of terrestrial insects. The development of microscopy and sequencing technologies has gradually revealed that some ant groups have established long-term and stable symbiotic relationships with microorganisms. These ant groups are regarded as “symbiotic hotspots”. To understand the ecological and evolutionary effects of symbiotic microorganisms on ant diversity, this study summarizes the different microbial types of ant taxa in symbiotic hotspots and describes the diversity of symbiotic microorganisms in these taxa, the symbiont-mediated functions, and the mechanism of maintaining a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship. The ant taxa in symbiotic hotspots usually live in specialized trophic niches, and these ants may use the diverse metabolic functions of symbiotic microorganisms to cope with the challenges of nutrient imbalance. Future research should expand the scope of the study species and include individuals from different castes. Functional verification experiments must be supplemented with genome sequencing and functional prediction of symbiotic microorganisms to continuously expand our understanding of the functions of ant symbiotic microorganisms. It is also necessary to investigate the timing of initial symbiont acquisition. The shared evolutionary history of ants and their diverse symbionts should be investigated with the aid of a high-resolution ant phylogenetic analysis to better understand the role of microorganisms in the evolution of Formicidae.