Hernández-Reyes, Ruth D.

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    Diversity of Actinobacteria associated with common ant species in the Guánica Tropical Dry Forest, Puerto Rico
    (2012) Hernández-Reyes, Ruth D.; Cafaro, Matías J.; College of Arts and Sciences - Sciences; Whitmire, Stefanie; Rodríguez Minguela, Carlos; Department of Biology; Ferrer, Mercedes
    The diversity of Actinobacteria associated with ants that do not grow fungi was determined in the Guánica subtropical dry forest. Actinobacteria produces secondary metabolites used as antibiotics antifungals and antivirals. A preliminary survey of the abundance and diversity of Actinobacteria in common ants from two different environments in Puerto Rico was conducted. Cambalache rain forest and Guánica dry forest were the locations selected for this purpose. The preliminary results indicated that Guánica Dry Forest had the largest number of morphospecies of Actinobacteria. The diversity of Actinobacteria associated with three dominant species of ants (Dorymyrmex sp., Solenopsis sp. and Paratrechina sp.) in the Guánica dry forest was assessed using culture-dependent methods. Streptomyces, Actinomadura, Nocardia, Pseudonocardia were associated with Solenopsis sp. ants, while Streptomyces, Nocardia and Nocardiopsis were found in association with Dorymyrmex sp. ants. The diversity of Actinobacteria associated with the ant Paratrechina sp. and its nest surrounding soil were determined using cultureindependent methods. We integrated the results obtained with dependent and independent culture methods in Paratrechina sp. Streptomyces, Actinomadura, Nocardia, Ornithiniimicrobium, Tsuamurella, Brevibacterium, Saccharopolyspora, Nocardioides, Microbacterium, Leifsonia, Pseudonocardia, Corynebacterium, Geodermatophilus, Amycolaptosis and Microtetraspora were associated with this ant. Streptomyces and Actinomadura genera were the most abundant with both methodologies. We concluded that the diversity of Actinobacteria associated with ants that do not grow fungus (Solenopsis sp., Dorymyrmex sp. and Paratrechina sp.) in the subtropical Guánica Dry Forest was specific for each ant species. We compared the community of Actinobacteria associated with Paratrechina sp. ants and the soil. We established that the community associated to the ant is consistent and clearly different from the community found in the soil in which the ant lives.