Data for: Environments and hosts structure the bacterial microbiomes of fungus-gardening ants and their symbiotic fungus gardens

The fungus gardening-ant system is considered a complex, multi-tiered symbiosis between the ants, their fungus, and microorganisms associated with either ants or fungus. We examine the bacterial microbiome of Trachymyrmex septentrionalis and Mycetomoellerius turrifex ants and their symbiotic fungus garden, using 16S rRNA Illumina sequencing, over a large geographical region. Typically microorganisms can be acquired from a parent colony (vertical transmission) or from the environment (horizontal transmission). Because the symbiosis is characterized by co-dispersal of the ants and fungus, elements of both ant and fungus garden microbiome could be characterized by vertical transmission, for example. The goals of this study were to explore how both the ant and fungus garden bacterial microbiome were acquired. The main findings were that different mechanisms appear to explain the structure the microbiomes of ants and their symbiotic fungus gardens. Ant associated microbiomes had a strong host ant signature, which suggests vertical inheritance of the ant associated bacterial microbiome. On the other hand, the bacterial microbiome of the fungus garden was more complex in that some components appear to be structured by the ant host species whereas other by fungal lineage or region. Thus bacteria in fungus gardens appear to be acquired both horizontally and vertically.