Data - Ant identity determines the fungi richness and composition of a myrmecochorous seed

Data set and analyse used in the manuscript title "Ant identity determines the fungi richness and composition of myrmecochorous seeds". In this manuscript we explore the effects of seed manipulation on fungi communities promoted by two ants with contrasting effects on seed germination and antimicrobial strategies. We hypothesize that i) seeds manipulated by Atta sexdens (increase seed germination and has broad cleaning strategies) will present lower fungi richness than those manipulated by Acromyrmex subterraneus (impair seed germination and has narrow cleaning strategies); ii) seeds manipulated by A. sexdens and Ac. subterraneus will present dissimilar fungi composition. We tested the hypotheses by identifying fungi morphotypes present in three groups of seeds: i) manipulated by Atta sexdens; ii) manipulated by Ac. subterraneus; iii) unmanipulated. From the seeds manipulated by ants, we randomly take a sub-sample of 20 seeds per nest to evaluate the fungi community. We also took 20 unmanipulated seeds (the ones left outside each experimental nest). Therefore, we had three seed treatment groups: i) manipulated by A. sexdens (20 seeds per nest = 80 seeds); ii) manipulated by Ac. Subterraneus (20 seeds per nest = 80 seeds) and iii) control - unmanipulated seeds left outside of each experimental nest (20 seeds outside of each nest = 160 seeds).To allow the fungi growth on seeds, we placed each seed separately on sterile Petri dishes (90 x15 mm) filled with 15 ml of Potato-Dextrose-Agar (PDA) culture medium. We then transported each Petri dish to a Bio-Oxygen-Demand incubator (BOD) at 25°C for 28 days. After that period, we sampled the fungi and prepared microscope slides for each fungus morphotype found in each Petri dish. We identified the fungi to the lower taxonomic level possible using “The genera of Hyphomycetes” (Seifert et al. 2011) and the website mycobank.org . We used this method because it is widely used to identify pathogens in seeds, has a low cost and has good specificity to identify fungi . Furthermore, PDA medium is a non-selective fungi growth media suitable for a broad range of fungi species.