Article
High symbiont relatedness stabilizes mutualistic cooperation in fungus-growing termites.
Science (New York, N.Y.) - 20 Nov 2009
Aanen Duur K, de Fine Licht Henrik H, Debets Alfons J M, Kerstes Niels A G, Hoekstra Rolf F, Boomsma Jacobus J
Abstract excerpt
It is unclear how mutualistic relationships can be stable when partners disperse freely and have the possibility of forming associations with many alternative genotypes. Theory predicts that high symbiont relatedness should resolve this problem, but the mechanisms to enforce this have rarely been studied. We show that African fungus-growing termites propagate single variants of their Termitomyces symbiont,...
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