Ants, like humans, fight disease. To treat the bacteria that cause some of their illnesses, some ants produce their own antibiotics. Researchers have identified certain species of ants that use potent antimicrobial agents, according to results of a study published in the medical journal Royal Society Open Science. This study has applications concerning the search for new antibiotics which can be used in humans.
Researchers tested the antimicrobial properties associated with 20 species of ants. They did this by using a solvent to remove all the substances on the surface of each ant’s body. The resulting solution was then introduced into a bacterial suspension. The growth of bacteria in the suspension was then compared to the growth of bacteria in a control group. If the bacteria in a suspension that contained an ant solution grew less than the control group, it meant that an antimicrobial agent was at work.
The researchers found that 12 of the 20 ant species had some sort of antimicrobial agent on their exoskeletons. Eight species of ants didn’t seem to use antibiotics at all. Or, at least, the antimicrobials on their exoskeletons were ineffective against the bacteria used in the study.
“These results suggest that ants may be a future source of new antibiotics to fight human disease,” said Clint Penick, assistant professor at Arizona State University and lead author of the study. “One of the species we examined, the thief ant (Solenopsis molesta), had the strongest antibiotic effect among those we tested” – and so far no one had shown that it used antimicrobials, notes Adrian Smith of North Carolina State University in Raleigh and co-author of the article.
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