Fungal infection alters collective nutritional intake of ant colonies - CNRS - Centre national de la recherche scientifique
Journal Articles Current Biology - CB Year : 2024

Fungal infection alters collective nutritional intake of ant colonies

Abstract

In animals, parasitic infections impose significant fitness costs 1-6 . Yet, infected animals can alter their feeding behavior to combat parasites 7-12 . For instance, they can adjust nutrient intake to support immune function 9,10 . However, parasites can manipulate animal foraging behavior to their own benefits 13-16 . How nutrition influences host-parasite interactions is not well understood. Until now, studies have mainly focused on the host, and less on the parasite 9,12,17-23 . Here, we used the Nutritional Geometry Framework 24 to investigate the role of amino acids (AA) and carbohydrates (C), in a host-parasite system: the Argentine ant, Linepithema humile, and the entomopathogenic fungus, Metarhizium brunneum. First, using 18 diets varying in AA:C composition, we established that the fungus performed best on the high-amino acid diet 1:4. Second, we found that the fungus was able to reach this optimal diet when given various diet pairings, revealing its ability to cope with nutritional challenges. Third, we showed that the optimal fungal diet reduced the lifespan of healthy ants when compared to a high-carbohydrate diet, but had no effect on infected ants. Fourth, we revealed that infected ant colonies given a choice between the optimal fungal diet and a high-carbohydrate diet, chose the optimal fungal diet whereas healthy colonies avoided it.

Lastly, by disentangling fungal infection from host immune response, we demonstrated that infected ants foraged on the optimal fungal diet following immune activation to maintain immune function and not as a result of parasite manipulation. Therefore, we revealed that infected ant colonies chose a diet that is costly for survival in the long term but beneficial in the short term, a form of collective self-medication.

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Dates and versions

hal-04728615 , version 1 (09-10-2024)

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Enikő Csata, Alfonso Pérez-Escudero, Emmanuel Laury, Hanna Leitner, Jürgen Heinze, et al.. Fungal infection alters collective nutritional intake of ant colonies. Current Biology - CB, 2024, 34 (4), pp.902-909.e6. ⟨10.1016/j.cub.2024.01.017⟩. ⟨hal-04728615⟩
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