With Help from Bacteria, Ants Fix Nitrogen (2 of 5) (IMAGE)

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

With Help from Bacteria, Ants Fix Nitrogen (2 of 5)

Caption

A leaf-cutter ant worker tends to her fungus garden. These ants grow a fungus, which feeds the entire colony, using leaves that the ants harvest from the surrounding rainforest. This particular worker is covered in white bacteria, which produce antibiotics that help the ants to protect their fungus crop from parasites. This image relates to an article that appeared in the Nov. 20 issue of Science, published by AAAS. The study, by Dr. Adrian Pinto-Tomas of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and colleagues was titled, "Symbiotic Nitrogen Fixation in the Fungus Gardens of Leaf-Cutter Ants."

Credit

[Photo courtesy Michael Poulsen, © <i>Science</i>/AAAS]

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