Parasites help ants triple their lifespans
While living in the ant's intestines, it seems that the tapeworm Anomotaenia brevis has pumped antioxidants and other proteins to help ants look younger and fatter.
Getting parasitic tapeworms is usually very bad, but with the ant Temnothorax nylanderi it is different. If an ant of this species chews on woodpecker droppings as a larva and becomes infected with the tapeworm Anomotaenia brevis, it can live up to three times longer than its fellow species, or even longer, Science Alert reported on June 17.
Healthy companions will do the work of worker ants, carrying tapeworm-infected ants around, taking care of and feeding them. These pampered "patients" barely leave the nest.
In new research published in the bioRxiv database, a team of experts led by entomologist Susanne Foitzik at Johannes Gutenberg University in Germany, find a possible explanation for this strange lifestyle.
Ants Temnothorax nylanderi. (Photo: Wikimedia).
When the tapeworm lived in the ant's intestines, it appeared to pump antioxidants and other proteins into the hemolymph (the fluid in the arthropod's circulatory system, similar to blood). The team of experts is not sure what these particular proteins have to do with health, but they are likely to have contributed to keeping infected ants young and "fresh".
In the life cycle of the tapeworm Anomotaenia brevis, ants are not the final habitat. They will live inside the woodpecker's body as adults, which means they enjoy certain benefits when it comes to keeping the ants looking young, fat and fresh. Thanks to that, ants can become breakfast for birds.
In 2021, Foitzik and his colleagues found that, while the tapeworm-infected Temnothorax nylanderi ants lived leisurely, the healthy ones in the colony had to pay the price. They bear the burden of taking care of the "patient" and die much earlier. The fact that workers are busy taking care of infected ants and less concerned with the queen can cause problems for the whole colony.
In the new study, the team of scientists again compared infected ants with healthy ants, looking closely at the amount of protein in the hemolymph. They found that tapeworm proteins make up a significant portion of the proteins that flow through the ant's hemolymph, two of the most abundant of which are antioxidants.
Several other proteins may explain why infected ants are favored. The team found large amounts of the vitellogenin-like A protein, but not by parasites, but by the ants themselves. This protein is involved in regulating the division of labor and reproduction in ant societies. The team thinks that somehow, this protein affects the behavior of the ants, tricking healthy ones into liking them.
However, it is unclear whether the tapeworm is actively manipulating the gene expression of proteins such as vitellogenin-like A or if it is just a random byproduct of the parasite infection process. They plan to continue studying the parasite's proteins to better understand how they affect the ant's behavior, appearance and lifespan.
