Professor Hu Yi from the College of Life Sciences at Beijing Normal University and Professor Corrie S. Moreau from Cornell University, USA, co-authored a review titled “Nutritional Symbiosis Between Ants and Their Symbiotic Microbes” in Annual Review of Entomology. The study systematically examines the nutritional symbiotic relationships between ants and their microbial partners, revealing how these symbiotic microorganisms serve as key contributors to the ants’ ecological dominance. Their role is crucial for ants to occupy diverse ecological niches and achieve remarkable species diversity.

The abstract of the paper is as follows:

Nutritional symbioses with microorganisms have profoundly shaped the evolutionary success of ants, enabling them to overcome dietary limitations and thrive across diverse ecological niches and trophic levels. These interactions are particularly crucial for ants with specialized diets, where microbial symbionts compensate for dietary imbalances by contributing to nitrogen metabolism, vitamin supplementation, and the catabolism of plant fibers and proteins. This review synthesizes recent advances in our understanding of ant–microbe symbioses, focusing on diversity, functional roles in host nutrition, and mechanisms of transmission of symbiotic microorganisms. Despite progress, most research has concentrated on a few ant genera, and further exploration of microbial roles in different ant morphs and life stages and across various ant species is needed. Expanding research to include a broader array of ant lineages and integrating genomic data with additional experimental data will provide deeper insights into the metabolic strategies that facilitate ant success across diverse ecological habitats.

Reference: https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-ento-121423-013513