Tennessee, USA, nature, Great Smoky Mountains National Park offer the most dramatic display of synchronous fireflies (Photo credit: Radim Schreiber (Event Photo) The solemn dancing of the fireflies at night, truly a sight to behold. Its an enchanting scene that rarely anyone will get to experience personally and if your privileged enough to, its a life changing experience. So what exactly is this beautiful glow from the fireflies anyways?
The process that allows the fireflies to glow is known as bioluminescence. Bioluminescence is the process by which organisms are able to emit light. It is generally caused by the oxidation of a light-emitting pigment, luciferin, catalysed by the enzyme luciferin. This all happens in the abdomen of the firefly where a photic (light producing organ) is present. The reaction can be simplified into the following word equation; Luciferin + Oxygen + ATP -> Oxyluciferin + Carbon dioxide (Luciferase + Magnesium) It's a rather complex reaction and it has been simplified already. But to make things even more easier to understand, the reaction generally means that Luciferin, the substrate, in the presence of the Luciferase, the enzyme, is oxidised by oxygen, to produce the light-emitting substance, oxyluciferin. So we know the basic biochemistry of firefly bioluminescence so whats the use of bioluminescence in the firefly system? Well it has many uses in the various species of fireflies but the most general use of bioluminescence across most species is that it is use to signal to other fireflies during mating season. This is why bioluminescence is an extremely key part of the fireflies' life cycle. Without it, the fireflies would be unable to breed. The fireflies use the bioluminescence in various ways in courtship and the method used varys from species to species.The signal gives the essential information necessary for selecting their mates. Well now knowing how amazing fireflies are, you might be considering wanting to see them for yourself. Unfortunately, fireflies are now an extremely rare sight and are on the brink of extinction. This is all due to light pollution. As we have discussed, the light emitted is essential in the fireflies' reproductive cycle. Light pollution has left many fireflies unable to find mates due to being lost in city lights or other lightings in human populated areas. Scientists aren't really sure how this is affects the mating of fireflies, but edvidences show that firefly populations are dwindling without a doubt. Fireflies have been observed to be affected most by extremely bright lights during dusk. Fireflies typically dislike showing up in bright areas, such as under a full moon. Artificial light, needless to say, can disrupts the fireflies ability to signal to one other, disrupting mating. As human industrialisation and modernisation continues, more and more areas are brightly lit, accounting for the dwindling firefly populations. The firefly is a wondrous creature that inspires many artists and people with their sheer beauty. If we do not do our best to aid in the conversation of these beautiful insects, they will be gone before we know it.
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(Photo credits: Mark Green) The world is running out of usable antibiotics and the search for new antibiotics has been ongoing for more than a decade. Perhaps one of the potential candidates for new antibiotics comes from one of the most unexpected places, in leafcutter ants.
Leafcutter ants are famous for their unique leaf-cutting habits, they use the collected plant matter as a substrate in the growing of fungus to feed the colony. In the growing of this fungus, the ants keep the fungus free of molds and other fungus using an antibiotic produced by the bacteria, actinomycetes spp. The actinomycetes bacteria is found on the bodies of the leafcutter ants. A limitation is that when the actinomycetes bacteria produce these antibiotics they express resistance genes, to protect them against the antibiotic's toxic effects.Unfortunately, these resistance genes have been exposed to other pathogens, causing antibiotic-resistant strains to evolve which current antibiotics are unable to treat. Despite the limitations, these antibiotics may prove to be useful to people who are allergic to antibiotics from other sources such as penicillin. Actinomycetes has also proved to be a reliable source of antibiotics, selectively destroying pathogens without affecting the host tissues. The leafcutter ants have one of the most complex animal societies and some even argue that their society is second to that only of humans. These ants are famous for their unique leaf-cutting habits. They use the collected plant matter as a substrate in the growing of fungus to feed the colony. This is where these ants get the tittle of farmers of the ant kingdom. They feed solely on this fungus and will die if the fungus dies.
So how do they even start their fungal farm? Well, it begins with the queen when it was still an alate ( A winged young queen ant which hasn't mated yet). The young alate picks up a small piece of the fungus from the existing fungal farm from the original colony. The alate carries this piece of fungus and goes on to mate. Once it has mated, it chooses a location to start its colony and lays its egg together with the fungal piece. And this is the new colony's beginning roots. The queen now starts her fungal farm and uses its own droppings as a substrate for the growing of the fungus. As the young workers hatch from the eggs, they begin to forage for plant matter and bring it back as substrate for the fungal farm. Now a system has been formed and the relationship is a budding lifelong partnership. As the fungal farm grows, like any agricultural farm, certain problems come up. Like on an agricultural farm, weeds are present, and in this case the fungal farm has other funguses and molds that are unwanted. So the farmer, the ants, use their from of pesticide. They use antibiotics produced by a bacteria, actinomycetes spp., that is found on their bodies. The ants form a very strong bond with the fungus, forming a relationship known as ant-us mutualism. The ants are very sensitive to adapt to the fungus's reaction to various plant material, detecting certain chemical signals from the fungus. If a particular type of leaf is unhealthy or toxic to the fungus, the colony will no longer collect it. The fungus also has evolved to produce hyphal tips (gongylidia) that grow in bundles called staphylae, to specifically feed the ants. Some say the leafcutter ants have hit the best of sustainable living, completely feeding off their agricultural produce and have such a strong bond with their fungus, not forgetting the bacteria living on the ants. Perhaps we humans have alot to learn from these remarkable ants. Leafcutter ant (Formicidae) seen at La Selva Biological Station, Heredia, Costa Rica (Photo credit: Geoff Gallice/Wikimedia) One of the most well-known ants, the farmers of nature, Leafcutter ants. There are a total of 47 known species of leafcutter ants known as of now and are all endemic to South and Central America, Mexico, and parts of the southern United States.
These ants are famous for their unique leaf-cutting habits. A common misunderstanding is that these ants consume the plant matter they carry with them. This is extremely untrue. In fact the plant matter is used as a substrate in the growing of fungus to feed the colony. This is where these ants get the tittle of farmers of the ant kingdom. They feed solely on this fungus and will die if the fungus dies. The leafcutter ants have one of the most complex animal societies and some even argue that their society is second to that only of humans. The leafcutter ants have a simple caste system, divided into workers, minors, soldiers, foragers and of course the queen. Leafcutter ants are also sometimes treated as agricultural pests, damaging various crops to obtain the plant matter necessary for growing their fungus. |
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