Chemical warfare between leafcutter ant symbionts and a co-evolved pathogen

Acromyrmex leafcutter ants form a mutually beneficial symbiosis with the fungus Leucoagaricus gongylophorus and with Pseudonocardia bacteria. Both are vertically transmitted and actively maintained by the ants. The fungus garden is manured with freshly cut leaves and provides the sole food for the ant larvae, while Pseudonocardia cultures are reared on the ant-cuticle and make antifungal metabolites to help protect the cultivar against disease. If left unchecked, specialized parasitic Escovopsis fungi can overrun the fungus-garden and lead to colony collapse. We report that Escovopsis upregulates the production of two specialized metabolites when it infects the cultivar. These compounds inhibit Pseudonocardia and one, shearinine D, also reduces worker behavioral defences and is ultimately lethal when it accumulates in ant tissues. Our results are consistent with an active evolutionary arms race between Pseudonocardia and Escovopsis, which modifies both bacterial and behavioral defences such that colony collapse is unavoidable once Escovopsis infections escalate

Shahid Mumtaz (Editor), “D4.2 RM framework and modelling,” Speed-5G Project, Deliverable D4.2.

This deliverable describes the radio resource management (RRM) framework and modelling for integrating and assessing the proposed algorithms in SPEED5G eDSA framework. The focus is on RRM and interfaces to the MAC layer and also northbound interfaces to the OAM, spectrum manager, and KPI manager. This deliverable also contains the modelling of demulator for initial testing for algorithms before it is implemented in a full hardware testbed

Keith Briggs (Editor), “D4.4 Final definition of the RM solution options and recommendations (public version),” Speed-5G Project, Deliverable D4.4.

The RRM (Radio Resource Manager) entity is a key component of the SPEED-5G architecture. It consists of two parts, a centralised part (cRRM) and a distributed part (dRRM). This deliverable is devoted to performance evaluations of the various algorithms which will run in the cRRM, but also includes an outline of regulatory and operator constraints, and of software architecture for the cRRM