TY  - JOUR
A1  - Frank, Erik T.
A1  - Kesner, Lucie
A1  - Liberti, Joanito
A1  - Helleu, Quentin
A1  - LeBoeuf, Adria C.
A1  - Dascalu, Andrei
A1  - Sponsler, Douglas B.
A1  - Azuma, Fumika
A1  - Economo, Evan P.
A1  - Waridel, Patrice
A1  - Engel, Philipp
A1  - Schmitt, Thomas
A1  - Keller, Laurent
T1  - Targeted treatment of injured nestmates with antimicrobial compounds in an ant society
T2  - Nature Communications
N2  - Infected wounds pose a major mortality risk in animals. Injuries are common in the ant Megaponera analis, which raids pugnacious prey. Here we show that M. analis can determine when wounds are infected and treat them accordingly. By applying a variety of antimicrobial compounds and proteins secreted from the metapleural gland to infected wounds, workers reduce the mortality of infected individuals by 90%. Chemical analyses showed that wound infection is associated with specific changes in the cuticular hydrocarbon profile, thereby likely allowing nestmates to diagnose the infection state of injured individuals and apply the appropriate antimicrobial treatment. This study demonstrates that M. analis ant societies use antimicrobial compounds produced in the metapleural glands to treat infected wounds and reduce nestmate mortality.
KW  - animal behaviour
KW  - chemical ecology
KW  - entomology
KW  - microbial ecology
KW  - proteomics
Y1  - 2023
UR  - https://opus.bibliothek.uni-wuerzburg.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/35808
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-358081
VL  - 14
ER  -