The role of bacteria in the Paussus-ant relationship

Animal-bacterial interactions represent a growing field of study, offering insights into the intricate relationships between organisms across various ecological niches. We aim to unravel the complex relationships between an ant nest beetle Paussus favieri, its bacterial associates, and the ants that provide a home for these beetles. Paussus favieri employs remarkable behavioral manipulation tactics, allowing them to infiltrate ant colonies and exploit the ant colony for their own survival. Central to this exploitation are chemical cues emitted by Paussus. We discovered that the reproductive tracts of female P. faveri are infested with bacteria.  We visualized the bacteria in the reproductive tract with Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Then, using a combination of short-read Illumina and long-read Nanopore sequencing, we identified the dominant bacterium to the genus level. We also used the sequence data to design a species- specific probe which allowed us to visualize the bacteria within the context of the entire body of both male and female beetles using a combination of traditional histology, Fluorescent in situ Hybridization (FISH), and confocal microscopy. Our research sets the stage to investigate the potential roles of this bacteria in the beetle-ant relationship.