DOI: 10.5061/dryad.ft36k
title: Data from: Bacterial symbiont sharing in Megalomyrmex social parasites and their fungus-growing ant hosts

description: Bacterial symbionts are important fitness determinants of insects. Some
 hosts have independently acquired taxonomically related microbes to meet
 similar challenges, but whether distantly related hosts that live in tight
 symbiosis can maintain similar microbial communities has not been
 investigated. Varying degrees of nest sharing between Megalomyrmex social
 parasites (Solenopsidini) and their fungus-growing ant hosts (Attini) from
 the genera Cyphomyrmex, Trachymyrmex and Sericomyrmex allowed us to
 address this question, as both ant lineages rely on the same fungal diet,
 interact in varying intensities and are distantly related. We used
 tag-encoded FLX 454 pyrosequencing and diagnostic PCR to map bacterial
 symbiont diversity across the Megalomyrmex phylogenetic tree, which also
 contains free-living generalist predators. We show that social parasites
 and hosts share a subset of bacterial symbionts, primarily consisting of
 Entomoplasmatales, Bartonellaceae, Acinetobacter, Wolbachia and
 Pseudonocardia and that Entomoplasmatales and Bartonellaceae can co-infect
 specifically associated combinations of hosts and social parasites with
 identical 16S rRNA genotypes. We reconstructed in more detail the
 population-level infection dynamics for Entomoplasmatales and
 Bartonellaceae in Megalomyrmex symmetochus guest ants and their
 Sericomyrmex amabilis hosts. We further assessed the stability of the
 bacterial communities through a diet manipulation experiment and evaluated
 possible transmission modes in shared nests such as consumption of the
 same fungus garden food, eating of host brood by social parasites,
 trophallaxis and grooming interactions between the ants, or parallel
 acquisition from the same nest environment. Our results imply that
 cohabiting ant social parasites and hosts may obtain functional benefits
 from bacterial symbiont transfer even when they are not closely related.
description: 97% OTUs 454
 datasetFollowing 454 sequencing
 of the 16s rRNA gene of bacterial communities of 33 samples of attine
 ants, Megalomyrmex ants and fungus gardens, 923 bacterial OTUs
 (operational taxonomic units at 97% identity) were identified. The zip
 file contains an OTU table showing the distribution of sequencing reads
 for all OTUs across the 33 samples, a taxonomy file with the
 classification of the OTUs based on the Greengenes reference set (May 2013
 release), a fasta file with all 923 representative sequences for these
 OTUs, and a mapping file containing the barcode sequence for each of the
 33 samples that were multiplex sequenced.OTU97_454Dataset.zipUnique sequences 454 datasetFollowing 454 sequencing of the 16s rRNA gene of bacterial communities of 33 samples of attine ants, Megalomyrmex ants and fungus gardens, 4882 unique bacterial sequences were identified. The zip file contains a table showing the distribution of sequencing reads for all unique sequences across the 33 samples, the taxonomic classification of these sequences based on the Greengenes reference set (May 2013 release), and a fasta file with all the 4882 unique sequences.UniqueSequences_454Dataset.zip97% OTUs MiSeq diet experiment datasetFollowing MiSeq sequencing of the 16s rRNA gene of bacterial communities of 36 samples of attine ants, Megalomyrmex ants and fungus gardens collected after a diet manipulation experiment, 852 bacterial OTUs (operational taxonomic units at 97% identity) were identified. The zip file contains an OTU table showing the distribution of sequencing reads for all OTUs across the 36 samples, a fasta file with all 852 representative sequences for these OTUs and two taxonomy files linking the taxonomic classification of the OTUs based on the Greengenes reference set (May 2013 release) to the OTU IDs found in the OTU table and the sequence identifiers found in the fasta file.OTU97_MiSeqDietExp.zipSericomyrmex mtCOI alignment and phylogenetic treeThe zip file contains the alignment in fasta format and the maximum likelihood phylogeny in newick format built from the 384 bp of the mitochondrial Cytochrome Oxidase I (mtCOI) gene amplified from 60 colonies of Sericomyrmex fungus-growing ants collected across the Panama Canal Zone.Sericomyrmex_COI_alignment_and_tree.zipEntomoplasmatales 16S rRNA alignment and phylogenetic treeThe zip file contains the alignment in fasta format and phylogenetic tree in newick format built from ca. 970 bp of the 16S rRNA gene amplified from Entomoplasmatales symbionts of Megalomyrmex ants, attine ants and fungus gardens aligned with closely related strains from GenBank.Entomoplasmatales_16SrRNA_alignment_and_tree.zipBartonellaceae 16S rRNA alignment and phylogenetic treeThe zip file contains the alignment in fasta format and the phylogenetic tree in newick format built from ca. 970 bp of the 16S rRNA gene amplified from Bartonellaceae symbionts of Megalomyrmex ants and attine ants aligned with closely related strains from GenBank.Bartonellaceae_16SrRNA_alignment_and_tree.zipWolbachia wsp alignment and phylogenetic treeThe zip file contains the alignment in fasta format and the phylogenetic tree in newick format built from ca. 520 bp of the Wolbachia surface protein (wsp) gene amplified from Wolbachia symbionts of Megalomyrmex ants and attine ants aligned with closely related strains from GenBank.Wolbachia_wsp_alignment_and_tree.zipInput alignments for Oligotyping analysesThe zip file contains the five alignments in fasta format of the 16S rRNA gene sequences of Entomoplasmatales, Bartonellaceae, Acinetobacter, Wolbachia and Pseudonocardia extracted from the 454 dataset, which were used as input for the Oligotyping analyses.Oligotyping_input_alignments.zip