This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Zhou, X.
Right arrow Articles by Goodrich-Blair, H.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Zhou, X.
Right arrow Articles by Goodrich-Blair, H.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Zhou, X.
Right arrow Articles by Goodrich-Blair, H.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, December 2002, p. 6202-6209, Vol. 68, No. 12
0099-2240/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.68.12.6202-6209.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Response of Ants to a Deterrent Factor(s) Produced by the Symbiotic Bacteria of Entomopathogenic Nematodes

Xinsheng Zhou,1 Harry K. Kaya,1 Kurt Heungens,2,{dagger} and Heidi Goodrich-Blair2*

Department of Nematology, University of California, Davis, California 95616,1 Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 537062

Received 20 June 2002/ Accepted 27 September 2002

The production of an ant-deterrent factor(s) (ADF) by Xenorhabdus nematophila and Photorhabdus luminescens, the symbiotic bacteria of the nematodes Steinernema carpocapsae and Heterorhabditis bacteriophora, respectively, was examined. In addition to an in vivo assay in which bacteria were tested for their ability to produce ADF within insect cadavers (M.E. Baur, H. K. Kaya, and D. R. Strong, Biol. Control 12:231-236, 1998), an in vitro microtiter dish assay was developed to monitor ADF activity produced by bacteria grown in cultures. Using these methods, we show that ADF activity is present in the supernatants of bacterial cultures, is filterable, heat stable, and acid sensitive, and passes through a 10-kDa-pore-size membrane. Thus, ADF appears to be comprised of a small, extracellular, and possibly nonproteinaceous compound(s). The amount of ADF repellency detected depends on the ant species being tested, the sucrose concentration (in vitro assays), and the strain, form, and age of the ADF-producing bacteria. These findings demonstrate that the symbiotic bacteria of some species of entomopathogenic nematodes produce a compound(s) that deters scavengers such as ants and thus could protect nematodes from being eaten during reproduction within insect cadavers.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706. Phone: (608) 265-4537. Fax: (608) 262-9865. E-mail: hgblair{at}bact.wisc.edu.

{dagger} Present address: DGB-CLO, B-9860 Merelbeke, Belgium.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, December 2002, p. 6202-6209, Vol. 68, No. 12
0099-2240/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.68.12.6202-6209.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Cremer, S., Sixt, M. (2009). Analogies in the evolution of individual and social immunity. Phil Trans R Soc B 364: 129-142 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • He, H., Snyder, H. A., Forst, S. (2004). Unique organization and regulation of the mrx fimbrial operon in Xenorhabdus nematophila. Microbiology 150: 1439-1446 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»