Lecture 14 - Mutualism and Commensalism

Question 1

What is an example of a mutualistic relationship?

Answer 1

Ants can’t survive without the fungi (they use fungi for food), fungi can’t live without ants (cultivated by ants)

Question 2

What are details of the mutualistic relationship between fungi and ants?

Answer 2

Leaf-cutter ants cut bits of leaves from plants and feed them to fungi. The ants chew the leaves to a pulp, fertilize them with their own droppings, and “weed” the fungal gardens to help control bacterial and fungal invaders. The fungi produce specialized structures called gongylidia, on which the ants feed.

Question 3

How do the ants and the fungi benefit from this relationship?

Answer 3

The ants scrape a waxy covering from the leaves that the fungi have difficulty penetrating. The fungus digests and detoxifies the chemicals that plants use to deter insect herbivores