This suggests that specific uptake of urea and excretion of its hydrolysis products may either be coordinated with the host, or that microbial cells are lysed after the hydrolysis of urea, in order for the host to gain the observed nutritional benefit when urea is added to the diet (Ben-...
Relative to fungal hyphae, the gongylidia have high concentrations of lipids and carbohydrates (free sugars and polysaccharides) and provide all food for the ant larvae and most food for the adult ants13. Based on comparisons of extant species, the evolution of gongylidia coincided with distinct...
interjectus (mother beetle) (Fig. 1a) were carefully opened to expose the inner surface of the cavities, on which ambrosia fungi were cultivated as larval food (Fig. 1d). Female adults (daughters) emerging from the logs were reared on semi- artificial diets with a two-layer ...
It is increasingly recognized that many important traits, including human metabolism, insect diet and defense, and plant nutrient foraging, are actually symbiotic extended phenotypes governed (at least in part) by cryptic variation in their microbial symbionts (e.g. [12., 3., 4., 5., 6.7];...
The carrot diets were supplemented with 500 µL of the respective bacteria inoculum for the BMALs, a regular liquid larval diet for the symbiotic lines, or distilled water for the axenic lines. The host larvae were left to feed and subsequently pupariate. The puparia were transferred to ...
For example, tannin, which can reduce the utilization of protein in food, is a ubiquitous substance in plants, and many microorganisms inhabiting insect intestines can produce tannase, which increases the potential of insect birth canal microorganisms to metabolize plant tannin [26,27]. Sphingomonas ...