Depends on the condition of the colony Sharing saliva helps ants in the metabolism process

Revealed the study of recent published in the journal "I Live" (eLife) on November 2 th, that ants exchange across the mouth fluid in social behavior is similar direction in humans, it can fulfill its role in ant society, whether queen or Chgalh or inclusive for pasture.

According to the press release published by the journal "e-Life" in response to the study, the exchange of oral fluids in one of the ants studied - known scientifically as "Camponotus floridanus" - has created a type of metabolism (building or digesting organic matter for the benefit of of them) the collective that accommodates the entire colony, which provides each individual in the colony with what he needs to fulfill his role.

Ants' vital stomachs

"Ants have two stomachs: one to digest their own food, and another social stomach that comes first and stores fluids that they share with other ants in the colony," says study leader Adria Lobov and evolutionary biologist at the University of Friborg in Switzerland.

"The fluid exchange allows the ants to share food and other important proteins that the ants themselves produce," says Lubov.

Similar to this social sharing, other social insects, such as the fruit fly, are thought to use saliva to create a circulation system among themselves, enabling the exchange of food, immune defenses and hormones. However, the exact function of these "social fluids" is not yet well known.

Marked variation in the proteins involved

Therefore, the researchers investigated this phenomenon further in carpenter ants, which enabled them to discover evidence indicating that these social fluids are linked to the role of the individual in the colony.

When the researchers analyzed all the proteins in the saliva of diggers ants, they found that it contained different biomarkers depending on the state of the colony.

The researchers discovered - after studying 70 colonies and 40 fluid samples of ants - that saliva contains 519 proteins, and 27 proteins appear in general in all colonies, regardless of the colony's life cycle, stage or environmental conditions. The rest of these proteins were completely differentiated.

For example, younger ant colonies shared saliva rich in proteins that process sugars quickly, while colonies of older ants shared proteins needed for growth, as well as proteins that help their young to metamorphosis and those that give them a longer life.

Participating hormones

Hence, this suggests that the saliva shared by the adult colonies plays a role as the hormones that flow in the body, as these "hormones" determine the role that the ants play in the colony.

For example, worker ants who care for young ants had a higher abundance of proteins related to oxidative stress (a state of oxidative imbalance that can lead to abnormalities or diseases if left untreated) in their saliva.

However, there are other "selfless" members of the colony who share the molecules that give the longest life with the workers, so that they can live longer so that they can raise the next generation of the colony.

We still need more research and study to find out how each protein shared affects the whole colony and the ant population, but the case study suggests that saliva sharing in ants is a useful model for understanding how animal communities have evolved a way among themselves to share the job.

"We didn't know how much information the ants passed on in a single hug, but it is difficult to measure how the ants share metabolic activity between cells," Lubov concludes.