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Colonization by the Red Imported Fire Ant, Solenopsis invicta, Modifies Soil Bacterial Communities

  • Host Microbe Interactions
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Abstract

The long-standing association between insects and microorganisms has been especially crucial to the evolutionary and ecological success of social insect groups. Notably, research on the interaction of the two social forms (monogyne and polygyne) of the red imported fire ant (RIFA), Solenopsis invicta Buren, with microbes in its soil habitat is presently limited. In this study, we characterized bacterial microbiomes associated with RIFA nest soils and native (RIFA-negative) soils to better understand the effects of colonization of RIFA on soil microbial communities. Bacterial community fingerprints of 16S rRNA amplicons using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis revealed significant differences in the structure of the bacterial communities between RIFA-positive and RIFA-negative soils at 0 and 10 cm depths. Illumina sequencing of 16S rRNA amplicons provided fine-scale analysis to test for effects of RIFA colonization, RIFA social form, and soil depth on the composition of the bacterial microbiomes of the soil and RIFA workers. Our results showed the bacterial community structure of RIFA-colonized soils to be significantly different from native soil communities and to evidence elevated abundances of several taxa, including Actinobacteria. Colony social form was not found to be a significant factor in nest or RIFA worker microbiome compositions. RIFA workers and nest soils were determined to have markedly different bacterial communities, with RIFA worker microbiomes being characterized by high abundances of a Bartonella-like endosymbiont and Entomoplasmataceae. Cloning and sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene revealed the Bartonella sp. to be a novel bacterium.

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Data Availability

Newly determined sequence data were deposited in the NCBI Sequence Read Archive (SRA) under accession number PRJNA690596. 

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the North Carolina Agricultural Foundation, Inc. We are grateful to Dr. Coby Schal for his comments on our manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University, NC, 27695, Raleigh, USA

    Nicholas V. Travanty, Charles S. Apperson & Loganathan Ponnusamy

  2. Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA

    Edward L. Vargo

  3. Comparative Medicine Institute, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA

    Charles S. Apperson & Loganathan Ponnusamy

Authors
  1. Nicholas V. Travanty
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  2. Edward L. Vargo
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  3. Charles S. Apperson
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  4. Loganathan Ponnusamy
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Contributions

N.V.T. collected samples, extracted DNA from samples, and carried out PCR, DGGE, and 16S Illumina library preparations. N.V.T. and L.P. analyzed the data. N.V.T. wrote original draft of the manuscript and N.V.T., E.L.V., C.S.A., and L.P. reviewed and edited final version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Loganathan Ponnusamy.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Travanty, N.V., Vargo, E.L., Apperson, C.S. et al. Colonization by the Red Imported Fire Ant, Solenopsis invicta, Modifies Soil Bacterial Communities. Microb Ecol 84, 240–256 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-021-01826-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-021-01826-4

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