Hu, YiSanders, Jon G.Łukasik, PiotrD’Amelio, Catherine L.Millar, John S.Vann, David R.Lan, YeminNewton, Justin A.Schotanus, MarkKronauer, Daniel J. C.Pierce, NaomiMoreau, Corrie S.Wertz, John T.Engel, PhilippRussell, Jacob A.2018-04-192018Hu, Y., J. G. Sanders, P. Łukasik, C. L. D’Amelio, J. S. Millar, D. R. Vann, Y. Lan, et al. 2018. “Herbivorous turtle ants obtain essential nutrients from a conserved nitrogen-recycling gut microbiome.” Nature Communications 9 (1): 964. doi:10.1038/s41467-018-03357-y. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03357-y.http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:35982708Nitrogen acquisition is a major challenge for herbivorous animals, and the repeated origins of herbivory across the ants have raised expectations that nutritional symbionts have shaped their diversification. Direct evidence for N provisioning by internally housed symbionts is rare in animals; among the ants, it has been documented for just one lineage. In this study we dissect functional contributions by bacteria from a conserved, multi-partite gut symbiosis in herbivorous Cephalotes ants through in vivo experiments, metagenomics, and in vitro assays. Gut bacteria recycle urea, and likely uric acid, using recycled N to synthesize essential amino acids that are acquired by hosts in substantial quantities. Specialized core symbionts of 17 studied Cephalotes species encode the pathways directing these activities, and several recycle N in vitro. These findings point to a highly efficient N economy, and a nutritional mutualism preserved for millions of years through the derived behaviors and gut anatomy of Cephalotes ants.en-USJournal Article2018-04-1910.1038/s41467-018-03357-y