Researchers report that ambrosia beetles, which bore into host trees and cultivate fungi for their broods to subsist on, select trees with elevated ethanol content because the ethanol optimizes food production by promoting the growth of the beetles' preferred fungal species; the preferred fungi can detoxify ethanol and inhibit the growth of "weedy" species, suggesting a mechanism of screening for high-quality symbionts in plant-insect-microbe mutualistic interactions.
Article #17-16852: "Symbiont selection via alcohol benefits fungus farming by ambrosia beetles," by Christopher M. Ranger et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: Christopher M. Ranger, United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service, Wooster, OH; tel: 330-464-0311; e-mail: <christopher.ranger@ars.usda.gov>
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