It has long been known that chemicals produced by certain ants have antibiotic properties. However, one species of ant was recently observed for the first time actually using these chemicals to treat infected wounds of other species. This ant is called Matabele ant (Megaponeraanalis) and is distributed in many areas of Africa south of the Sahara Desert.
It feeds exclusively on termites, which means the ant colony must regularly attack nearby termite colonies. However, the termite soldiers in these colonies are not defenseless and can cause serious wounds to many intruders. If these wounds become infected, the injured ant may die.
Now, an international team of researchers has discovered that when these wounds become infected, the hydrocarbon content of the ants' cuticles (hard exoskeletons) changes, and this change can be detected by other ants in the colony. The ants respond by sucking up antibiotic secretions from one of their jaw glands (located on either side of their thorax) and applying it to the wound with their mandibles.
Laboratory tests found that the mortality of infected ants was reduced by about 90% after using antibiotic liquids.
Importantly, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bacterium that commonly causes infection, is also frequently responsible for antibiotic-resistant infections in humans. So scientists are trying to identify all the specific antibiotics produced by ants so they can be used in humans.
Dr. Eric Frank of the Julius-Maximilians-University of Würzburg, Germany, and Professor Laurent Keller of the University of Lausanne in Switzerland co-led the research. A paper on the research was recently published in the journal Nature Communications.
Source Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg
Compiled source: ScitechDaily