| Title |
The Role of Extrafloral Nectar Amino Acids for the Preferences of Facultative and Obligate Ant Mutualists
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Journal of Chemical Ecology, April 2009
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s10886-009-9618-4 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Marcia González-Teuber, Martin Heil |
| Abstract |
Plants in some 300 genera produce extrafloral nectar (EFN) to attract ants as a means of indirect defence. Among Mesoamerican Acacia species, obligate myrmecophytes produce EFN constitutively to nourish symbiotic ant mutualists, while non-myrmecophytes induce EFN secretion in response to herbivore damage to attract non-symbiotic ants. Since symbiotic Acacia ants entirely depend on the host-derived food rewards while non-symbiotic ants need to be attracted to EFN, this system allows comparative analyses of the function of EFN components in ant nutrition and attraction. We investigated sugar and amino acid (AA) composition in EFN of two myrmecophytes (Acacia cornigera and Acacia hindsii) and two related non-myrmecophyte species (Acacia farnesiana and Prosopis juliflora). AA composition allowed a grouping of myrmecophytes vs. non-myrmecophytes. Behavioural assays with obligate Acacia inhabitants (Pseudomyrmex ferrugineus) and non-symbiotic ants showed that AA composition affected ant preferences at high but not at low AA/sugar ratios. Most interestingly, behavioural responses differed between the two types of ants tested: Symbiotic ants showed a clear preference for higher AA concentrations and preferred nectar mimics with those four AAs that most significantly characterised the specific nectar of their Acacia host plant. In contrast, non-symbiotic ants distinguished among nectars containing different sugars and between solutions with and without AAs but neither among nectars with different AA/sugar ratios nor among mimics containing different numbers of AAs. Our results confirm that both AAs and sugars contribute to the taste and attractiveness of nectars and demonstrate that the responses of ants to specific nectar components depend on their life style. AAs are a chemical EFN component that likely can shape the structure of ant-plant mutualisms. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profile of 1 X user who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Japan | 1 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 1 | 100% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 162 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Brazil | 4 | 2% |
| United States | 4 | 2% |
| Mexico | 2 | 1% |
| India | 1 | <1% |
| United Kingdom | 1 | <1% |
| French Guiana | 1 | <1% |
| Germany | 1 | <1% |
| France | 1 | <1% |
| Canada | 1 | <1% |
| Other | 2 | 1% |
| Unknown | 144 | 89% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Bachelor | 32 | 20% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 31 | 19% |
| Researcher | 19 | 12% |
| Student > Master | 19 | 12% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 16 | 10% |
| Other | 19 | 12% |
| Unknown | 26 | 16% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 95 | 59% |
| Environmental Science | 19 | 12% |
| Chemistry | 5 | 3% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 3 | 2% |
| Earth and Planetary Sciences | 2 | 1% |
| Other | 6 | 4% |
| Unknown | 32 | 20% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 4. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 28 September 2022.
All research outputs
#6,628,531
of 23,426,104 outputs
Outputs from Journal of Chemical Ecology
#539
of 2,064 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#24,694
of 79,842 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Journal of Chemical Ecology
#7
of 11 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 23,426,104 research outputs across all sources so far. This one has received more attention than most of these and is in the 70th percentile.
So far Altmetric has tracked 2,064 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 6.1. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 72% of its peers.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 11 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 36th percentile – i.e., 36% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.