Abstract
Yeast abundance and species diversity in the colonies of Formica aquilonia ants in birch–pine grass forest near Novosibirsk, Russia, were studied. The average yeast number in the anthill material was 103–104 CFU/g, reaching 105 CFU/g in the hatching chambers. Typical litter species (Trichosporon moniliiforme and Cystofilobasidium capitatum) were predominant in soil and litter around the anthills. Apart from these species, ascomycete species of the family Debaryomycetaceae, Debaryomyces hansenii, and Schwanniomyces vanrijiae were predominant in the anthill material. Yeast population of the ant’ bodies consisted exclusively of the members of the last two species. Thus, highly specific yeast communities formed in the colonies of Formica aquilonia ants differ from the communities of surrounding soil. These differences are caused by environment-forming activity of the ants.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bab’eva, I.P, Guzeva, I.S., Dlusskii, G.M., and Golubev, V.I., Association of yeasts and ants in forest biogeocenoses, in Zakonomernosti razvitiya pochvennykh mikroorganizmov (Developmental Patterns of Soil Microorganisms), Leningrad: AN SSSR, 1975, pp. 16–25.
Bugrova, N.M. and Pshenitsyna, L.B., Transformation of grass cover spatial structure around Formica aquilonia nests, Usp. Sovr. Biol., 2003, vol. 123, no. 3, pp. 273–277.
Chernov, I.Yu., Drozhzhi v prirode (Yeasts in Nature), Moscow: KMK, 2013.
Dlusskii, G.M., Murav’i roda Formika (Ants of the Genus Formica), Moscow: Nauka, 1967.
Glushakova, A.M., Kachalkin, A.V., and Chernov, I.Y., Specific features of the dynamics of epiphytic and soil yeast communities in the thickets of Indian balsam on mucky gley soil, Euras. Soil Sci., 2011, vol. 44, no. 8, pp. 886–892.
Glushakova, A.M. and Chernov, I.Y., Seasonal dynamics of the structure of epiphytic yeast communities, Microbiology (Moscow), 2010, vol. 79, no. 6, pp. 830–839.
Golubev, V.I. and Bab’eva, I.P., Debaryomyces Klöck. yeasts in the nests of Formica rufa L. ants, Ekologiya, 1972, no. 1, pp. 78–82.
Grishkan, I.B., Ant nests of the upper Kolyma River as a substrate for micromycete fungi, Mikol. Fitopatol., 1989, vol. 23, no. 2, pp. 105–109.
Gusteleva, L.A. and Isaev, A.S., Mikroflora nasekomykhksilifagov (Microflora of Xylophagous Insects), Novosibirsk: Nauka, 1982.
Frouz, J. and Jilkova, V., The effect of ants on soil properties and processes (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), Myrmecol. News, 2008, no. 11, pp. 191–199.
Frouz, J., Kalcík, J., and Cudlín, P., Accumulation of phosphorus in nests of red wood ants Formica s. str., Ann. Zool. Fenn., 2005, vol. 42, pp. 269–275.
Frouz, J., Rybnícek, M., Cudlín, P., and Chmelíková, E., Influence of the wood ant, Formica polyctena, on soil nutrient and the spruce tree growth, J. Appl. Entomol., 2008, vol. 132, pp. 281–284.
Ganter, P.F., Yeast and invertebrate associations, in Biodiversity and Ecophysiology of Yeasts, Rosa, C.A. and Peter, G., Eds., Berlin: Springer, 2006, pp. 303–370.
Golubev, V.I. and Bab’eva, I.P., Debaryomyces formicarius sp. nov. and Debaryomyces cantarellii associated with the ants of the group Formica rufa L., J. Gen. Appl. Microbiol., 1972, vol. 18, pp. 249–254.
Jilkova, V., Š ebek, O., and Frouz, J., Mechanisms of pH change in wood ant (Formica polyctena) nests, Pedobiologia, 2012, vol. 55, no. 5, pp. 247–251.
Kilpeläinen, J., Wood ants (Formica rufa group) in managed boreal forests: implications for soil properties and tree growth, PhD theses. Dissertationes Forestales 66, Finland, 2008. Kurtzman, C.P. and Fell, J.W., Eds., The Yeasts, a Taxonomic Study, 4th ed., Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1998.
Kurtzman, C.P. Fell, J.W., and Boekuout, T., Eds., The Yeasts, a Taxonomic Study, 5th ed., Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2011.
Kurtzman, C.P. and Suzuki, M., Phylogenetic analysis of ascomycete yeasts that form coenzyme Q-9 and the proposal of the new genera Babjeviella, Meyerozyma, Millerozyma, Priceomyces and Scheffersomyces, Mycoscience, 2010, vol. 51, pp. 2–14.
Laakso, J. and Setälä, H., Impacts of wood ants (Formica aquilonia Yarr.) on the invertebrate food web of boreal forest floor, Ann. Zool. Fenn., 1998, vol. 37, pp. 93–100.
Mankowski, M.E. and Morrell, J.J., Yeasts associated with the infrabuccal pocket and colonies of the carpenter ant Camponotus vicinus, Mycologia, 2004, vol. 96, pp. 226–231.
Pokarzhevskii, A.D. and Pimenov, E.P., Functional role of the microflora of the nests of red forest ants, in Mikrobnye soobshchestva i ikh funktsionirovanie v pochve (Microbial Communities and Their Functioning in Soil), Kiev: Naukova Dumka, 1981, pp. 203–205.
Price, C.W., Fuson, G.B., and Phaff, H.J., Genome comparison in yeast systematics: delimitation of species within the genera Schwanniomyces, Saccharomyces, Debaryomyces and Pichia, Microbiol. Rev., 1978, vol. 42, pp. 161–193.
Reznikova, Zh.I. and Sleptsova, E.V., Biotopic and seasonal variations of Collembola population in Formica rufa anthills, Usp. Sovr. Biol., 2003, vol. 123, no. 3, pp. 310–320.
Sleptsova, E.V. and Reznikova, Zh.I., Formation of Collembola communities in the course of anthill colonization, Zool. Zh., 2006, vol. 85, no. 5, pp. 563–572.
Stebaeva, S.K., Andreeva, I.S., and Reznikova, Zh.I., Populations of microorganisms and Collembola in the nests of meadow ants Formica pratensis, in Etologicheskie problemy ekologii nasekomykh Sibiri (Ethological Problems in Ecology of Siberian Insects), Novosibirsk, 1977, pp. 7–39.
Stebaeva, S.K. and Grishina, L.G., Dynamics of microscopic arthropods (Collembola, Oribatei) in a Formica polyctena nest in Wester Siberian wooded steppe, Zool. Zh., 1983, vol. 42, no. 6, pp. 850–860.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Original Russian Text © I.A. Maksimova, A.M. Glushakova, A.V. Kachalkin, I.Yu. Chernov, S.N. Panteleeva, Zh.I. Reznikova, 2016, published in Mikrobiologiya, 2016, Vol. 85, No. 1, pp. 100–106.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Maksimova, I.A., Glushakova, A.M., Kachalkin, A.V. et al. Yeast communities of Formica aquilonia colonies. Microbiology 85, 124–129 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0026261716010045
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0026261716010045