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Leafcutter Ant Genome Reveals Secrets of Fungus Farming Ways. Feb.

18, 2011 — Leafcutter ants, signature denizens of New World tropical forests, are unique in their ability to harvest fresh leaves to cultivate a nutrient-rich fungus as food.

Now, this mutualism -- a complicated interplay of ants, fungi and a suite of bacteria -- is coming into sharper focus as a team of University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers has published the complete genome of the leafcutter ant, Atta cephalotes.

The study, published Feb.

10, 2011 in the journal PLoS Genetics by an international team led by UW-Madison bacteriology professors Cameron Currie and Garret Suen, illustrates how lifestyle can remake an animal's genetic blueprint over the course of evolutionary history.

The genome, the first for a leafcutter ant, reveals that the insect has shed genes that other ant species use to help acquire nutrients.

The leafcutter, which cannot survive without its fungus food, has apparently slimmed its genome to get rid of genes it no longer needs due to its symbiotic lifestyle.

"Presumably, the ants have lost these genes because of their dependency on the fungus," explains Wisconsin researcher Garret Suen, the lead author of the PLoS Genetics study.

"They don't need these proteins kicking around any more."