Flynn, P.J. & Ramalho, M.O.

Unveiling the bacterial world of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae):  a systematic review of patterns, drivers, and evolutionary insights

Ants are renowned for engaging in diverse symbiotic relationships, particularly with bacteria, for over 50 million years – a key factor in their ecological dominance across terrestrial ecosystems. With advancements in sequencing technologies and bioinformatics, numerous studies have focused on uncovering ant-bacterial interactions. However, significant gaps remain as many aspects of these interactions are still unexplored. Our study aimed to identify patterns of symbiotic interactions between ants and bacterial communities through a comprehensive literature review and a comparative meta-analysis. Our findings highlight which ant subfamilies, genera, and bacterial taxa (analyzed via both Sanger and high-throughput sequencing) have been most frequently studied as well as the geographic regions that are well-researched and those requiring greater attention. Additionally, we reveal the critical roles of diet, geographic distribution, and host phylogeny in shaping bacterial community diversity within these interactions. This study underscores the importance of integrating ecological, evolutionary, and microbial perspectives to advance our understanding of ant-bacterial interaction, ultimately contributing to the broader field of myrmecology

Open access, licensed under CC BY 4.0. © 2025 The Author(s).

Bacterial communities, microbiome, cospeciation, mutualism, specialization, meta-analysis, review