Transcriptome of the fungus L. gongylophorus cultivated by the leaf-cutting ant Acromyrmex echinatior. L. gongylyphorus transcriptome

Ca. 50 million years ago (MYA) fungus-growing ants began cultivating basidiomycete fungi for food in underground fungus garden chambers. More recently, ca. 25 MYA a crown group of the cultivated fungi evolved inflated hyphal tips (gongylidia) as a specific symbiotic adaptation because the ants preferentially eat them. Here we use comparative transcriptomics to characterize the evolutionary adaptation of the fungus L. gongylophorus cultivated by the leaf-cutting ant Acromyrmex echinatior.

约5000万年前（MYA，即百万年前的缩写），种植真菌的蚂蚁便开始在地下真菌种植室内培育担子菌（basidiomycete fungi）作为食物来源。而在约2500万年前，所培育真菌的冠群类群演化出了膨大的菌丝顶端（gongylidia）——这是一种特异性共生适应性状，原因在于该类蚂蚁会优先取食该结构。本研究采用比较转录组学（comparative transcriptomics）技术，对棘刺切叶蚁（Acromyrmex echinatior）所培育的真菌L. gongylophorus的演化适应特征进行了系统表征。