Atta colombica refuse dump Targeted Locus (Loci). ant fungus garden metagenome

Colonies of the leaf-cutter ant Atta colombica deposit considerable amounts of waste material in concentrated locations on the forest floor. These refuse dumps contain significantly greater amounts of many important nutrients than surrounding soil and are exploited by local plant and animal communities. Refuse material, primarily composed of partially degraded plant ma-terial and spent fungal biomass, accumulates over the life of a colony and develops distinct vertical stratification. To better understand community dynamics within these nutrient rich reservoirs, we generated 16S clones and 16S pyrotag reads from five distinct strata within dumps of three A. colombica colonies. We also generated over 18S clones from fungus gardens and refuse dumps.