The immune race between humans and the coronavirus continues. When humans acquire antibodies through vaccines or infections, the virus escapes by repeatedly mutating into delta and omicron. The ant society is fighting a quarantine war just like humans. When the ants prevented fungal infections through collective quarantine, the fungi broke through the surveillance network by changing chemical signals. Scientists hope that nature’s quarantine actions can provide wisdom to fight infectious diseases.
Researchers Dr Silvia Kremer from the Austrian Institute of Science and Technology (ISTA) published an article in the international journal Nature Ecology and Evolution on the 2nd (local time), saying, “In response to the social immunity of ants, fungi camouflage themselves by alter chemical signals. I found something to do,” he said.
◇ If ants block it, mold breaks through
Social immunity refers to collective hygiene and health care that prevents the spread of pathogens throughout a community. This includes the behavior of social ants or bees caring for a diseased mate or delivering immune substances orally.
Dr Cremer’s research team observed the social immune behavior of Argentine ants (scientific name Linepithema humile) to attack a pathogenic fungus. Forager ants become infected with the fungus while foraging. The fungus penetrates into the ant’s body and grows. Nursery ants remove fungal spores from the body of the foragers when they return. It is the same as a person infected with corona who is treated in a hospital.
The research team confirmed through experiments that fungi evolve in response to the social immunity of ants. When an ant became infected with a fungus in the laboratory, as expected, a colleague removed the fungal spores. The fungus then responded by producing more spores. Surprisingly, as the number of spores increased, on the contrary, the ants’ caring behavior for their infected companions decreased.
Dr Kremer hypothesized that even if the spores increased, they would be less easily detected by the foraging ants than before. It is not true that the medical staff did not turn away the seriously ill patients, but that they did not recognize that they were seriously ill.
In fact, Professor Thomas Schmidt of the University of Wurzburg in Germany confirmed that ergosterol, an intrinsic component of the fungal cell membrane, decreased even when the number of spores increased. Originally, ants did not respond to ergosterol from other animals, but only to ergosterol from fungi. The fungus camouflages itself by changing chemical signals to avoid detection by ants.
The findings show that the immune behavior of the herd of social animals such as ants has triggered the evolution of pathogens. This is reminiscent of the immune competition between humans and the coronavirus. The research team said, “I wonder how the ant community will respond to fungus camouflage,” and “ants may evolve to be able to detect fungi even with weaker chemical signals than before.”
◇ Distribute antibacterial substances to disinfect and practice social distancing
Ants achieve social immunity in a variety of ways. The Agricultural Science Research Center (ARS) under the US Department of Agriculture published in the ‘Journal of Insect Physiology’ last December that fire ants act as social immunity through poison. Fire ants secrete formic acid, an acidic solution, to defeat natural enemies and paralyze prey. Sometimes, he also shoots formic acid at his colleagues. Its purpose is to prevent pathogen infection by using the antibacterial properties of formic acid.
The ARS research team confirmed that fire ants also provide formic acid in the nutrient exchange that transports food to their companions’ mouths. Thanks to this, antibacterial substances can enter the digestive tract and eliminate pathogens. First the queen gives a toxic antibacterial substance to the first worker ant that hatches from the egg. The worker ants pass it on to the larvae, which eventually spread the antimicrobial throughout the colony.
A distance starter is also an ant. Professor Natalie Ströimite from the University of Bristol, UK, reported in the journal Science in 2018 that when the beetle hair ant (Lasius niger) becomes ill, it avoids contact with healthy companions and even leaves the house alone.
The research team attached automatic identification tags to the back of each ant and analyzed the movement paths of collector ants, nursery ants, and queen ants. When the foraging ants became infected with the fungus, their colleagues stopped sharing food and kept their distance. When the infected ants died, they moved to a place where they could not come into contact with other ants. is self-isolating.
◇ Pay attention to the wisdom of nature because of the corona pandemic
Animal distancing behavior has received renewed attention since the COVID-19 pandemic. Professor Ströimite said in a commentary entitled ‘Social Distance in Infectious Diseases and Nature’ published in the journal Science in 2021, “Daily distancing after the Corona 19 pandemic is already a common behavior in nature.”
Termites, too, when infected with a poisonous fungus, tremble and signal infection to keep their companions away. Sacrifice yourself is the same for young individuals. Bee larvae release signaling chemicals when infected with bacteria. Bees bite the larvae which is a sign of infection and eject them from the hive.
Caribbean lobsters, a type of lobster, usually live together in coral reefs or rock crevices, but they leave the nest immediately and run away into the water when a mate falls ill. A lobster found an abnormal substance in the urine of a sick colleague. Vampire bats, who live in colonies, stop grooming their friends if they get sick, but they continue to feed them. For humans, it’s like an isolation treatment.
Recently, following Corona 19, there are growing voices of concern that bird flu will spread to humans beyond species barriers. The wisdom of nature is needed more than ever.
Address
Nature Ecology and Evolution, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-01981-6
Journal of Insect Physiology, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinsphys.2022.104437
Science, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abc8881
Proceedings of the Royal Society B, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.1039
Science, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aat4793
