The attine ant system is a remarkable example of symbiosis. An antagonistic partner within this system is the fungal parasite , a genus specific to the fungal gardens of the Attini. parasitizes the symbiont that leaf-cutting ants (, ) have been farming over the past 8-12 Myr.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Symbiotic relationships modulate the evolution of living organisms in all levels of biological organization. A notable example of symbiosis is that of attine ants (Attini; Formicidae: Hymenoptera) and their fungal cultivars (Lepiotaceae and Pterulaceae; Agaricales: Basidiomycota). In recent years, this mutualism has emerged as a model system for studying coevolution, speciation, and multitrophic interactions.
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