Lethal and Antimicrobial Responses to Bacterial Exposure across Ants
[Thesis]
Halawani, Omar
Grunden, Amy;Smith, Adrian;Dunn, Robert
North Carolina State University
2020
54
M.Sc.
North Carolina State University
2020
As the threat of microbial resistance rises, we try to increase our success in identifying novel antimicrobials by expanding our search beyond single source antibiotics. Observing other animal groups and their interactions with the bacteria in their environment may present new sources of antibiotic compounds and antimicrobial mechanisms. Ant societies (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) may have such interactions with their environmental micro-fauna, and investigation of these interactions could uncover new processes to control potentially pathogenic microbes. There are close interactions with ants and environmental bacteria, but more evidence is needed on how environmental bacteria impose evolutionary selection pressures on ant societies.