RELOAD · REciprocal LOcal ADapatation: the genetic, behavioural and chemical study of the evolutionary maintenance of a mutualism
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2016-07-01 → 2019-06-30
- EU contribution
- €239,861
- Participants
- 2
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF-GF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
REciprocal LOcal ADapatation: the genetic, behavioural and chemical study of the evolutionary maintenance of a mutualism
Devil’s Gardens are clearings in the Amazonian rainforest where only the treelet Duroia hirsuta can grow. According to local folklore, these orchard-like stands are created by a forest spirit, hence their name. They are actually cultivated by the arboreal ants Myrmelachista schumanni, whose workers systematically attack and kill seedlings of foreign plants that germinate too close to their host plants. This cultivation behaviour results in monocultures of D. hirsuta in the middle of some of the most diverse rainforests on earth. Devil’s Gardens are one of the very few examples of non-human agriculture. The goal of this project is to identify and characterize genetic, behavioural and biochemical mechanisms involved in this fascinating ant-plant relationship. The main questions addressed are: (1) does the geographical organization in Devil’s Gardens influence D. hirsuta and M. schumanni genetic diversity? (2) How specialized are interactions between M. schumanni and its host-plant? (3) What is the impact of Devil’s Gardens on environmental diversity? This project holds potential for tremendous scholarly impact in the field of mutualism study, and for tangible socio-economic impact in agriculture. Mutualism stability in face of cheating is one of the hot research topics of the decade in biology. This project will provide invaluable information about genetic diversity underlying the functioning of one of the most fascinating model systems of specialized mutualisms. On the other hand, Devil’s Gardens face the same issues as human agriculture: increased herbivore and pathogen pressures. Learning how ants have been circumventing these issues for the past million years can inform human practices and provide solutions for a more sustainable agriculture.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
The goal of this research is to identify and characterize genetic, behavioural and biochemical mechanisms underlying reciprocal local adaptation between partners in a complex mutualism. It will focus on a unique and outstanding model system found in the New World tropics: the “devil’s gardens” created by the ant, Myrmelachista schumanni, whose workers systematically attack and kill seedlings of foreign plants that germinate too close to their host plants. This cultivation behaviour results in low diversity, orchard-like stands of their host plants in the middle of some of the most diverse rainforests on earth. This project will bring together researchers from Harvard University and the Max Planck Institute to address three main questions through a combination of newly developed genome sequencing techniques, large-scale field-ecology behavioural experiments and state-of-the-art chemical analyses: (1) Do Myrmelachista schumanni and its host plants reciprocally influence each other’s population sizes, level of gene flow and genetic structure? (2) How specialized are interactions between Myrmelachista schumanni and the several species of plants that it cultivates? (3) What are some of the proximate mechanisms underlying host specificity, and in particular, can ants recognize different plant species and if so, how? In carrying out this research, postdoctoral fellow Pierre-Jean Malé will expand his expertise by gaining training in phylogenomics and chemical ecology. The project, referred to here as ""RELOAD"" (forREciprocal LOcal ADaptations), will also enable him to broaden the ecological and evolutionary scale of his research, and enhance his long-term goal of obtaining a faculty position at a European university and/or research institution.""
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- MAX-PLANCK-GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FORDERUNG DER WISSENSCHAFTEN EV · MUNCHENCoordinatorGermany
- PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE · CambridgeUnited States
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union