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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Peoria, Illinois » National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research » Mycotoxin Prevention and Applied Microbiology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #325413
Title: Social wasps promote social behavior in Saccharomyces spp.

Author
item BLACKWELL, MEREDITH - Louisiana State University
item Kurtzman, Cletus

Submitted to: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/22/2016
Publication Date: 2/23/2016
Publication URL: http://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/62390
Citation: Blackwell, M., Kurtzman, C.P. 2016. Social wasps promote social behavior in Saccharomyces spp. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 113(8):1971-1973.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: This commentary provides background and an evaluation of a paper to be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in which social wasps were found to harbor significant populations of two species of the yeast genus Saccharomyces. Apparently, the yeasts were acquired during feeding and propagated in the intestinal tract of the wasps. The main habitats of Saccharomyces species in nature are unknown, but recent studies have suggested that they occur on the bark of hardwood trees, which is where the wasps feed. Conditions within the digestive tract of the wasps favor hybridization among the species and may be a major site for interspecific hybridization, which will lead to the development of new species of Saccharomyces.