期刊
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
卷 11, 期 1, 页码 -出版社
NATURE RESEARCH
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-19566-3
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资金
- National Institutes of Health (NIH) [U19 TW009872-05]
- NIH [U19 AI109673]
- Department of Energy Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center Office of Science [DE-FC0207ER64494]
- U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences Division [DE-FG02-07ER15899]
- NSF [DMR-1603192]
- National Science Foundation [DEB 1654829, DEB 1927224]
- NASA Astrobiology Institute [NNA13AA94A]
- Department of Geoscience
- DOE Office of Science User Facility [DE-AC02-05CH11231]
Although calcareous anatomical structures have evolved in diverse animal groups, such structures have been unknown in insects. Here, we report the discovery of high-magnesium calcite [CaMg(CO3)(2)] armor overlaying the exoskeletons of major workers of the leaf-cutter ant Acromyrmex echinatior. Live-rearing and in vitro synthesis experiments indicate that the biomineral layer accumulates rapidly as ant workers mature, that the layer is continuously distributed, covering nearly the entire integument, and that the ant epicuticle catalyzes biomineral nucleation and growth. In situ nanoindentation demonstrates that the biomineral layer significantly hardens the exoskeleton. Increased survival of ant workers with biomineralized exoskeletons during aggressive encounters with other ants and reduced infection by entomopathogenic fungi demonstrate the protective role of the biomineral layer. The discovery of biogenic high-magnesium calcite in the relatively well-studied leaf-cutting ants suggests that calcareous biominerals enriched in magnesium may be more common in metazoans than previously recognized. Biomineral armour is known in a number of diverse creatures but has not previously been observed in insects. Here, the authors report on the discovery and characterization of high-magnesium calcite armour which overlays the exoskeletons of leaf-cutter ants.
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