Charissa de Bekker came to 性视界传媒 earlier this year to continue her research on a fungal parasite that infects ants, hijacks their brains and controls their behavior to spread its fungal spores 鈥� a phenomenon that鈥檚 led to those infected being called 鈥渮ombie ants.鈥�
Throughout her career, she鈥檚 found evidence that the parasite may manipulate the ants鈥� behavior, in part, by hijacking their biological clocks. In published Nov. 3 in the peer-review journal PLOS ONE, findings show that the parasite itself has a working biological clock, too, that may be the driving force behind the timing of when and how the parasite infects and manipulates the ants.
It鈥檚 been observed that infected zombie ants wander out of their nests, climb onto a piece of vegetation such as Spanish moss or pine needle, bite down and ultimately die. Afterward, a spore-carrying stalk grows out of their heads. This is the work of the parasite manipulating the ants鈥� behavior to lead them away from their nest and normal routines so that the fungus can spread its spores more effectively. Now knowing that the parasite has its own biological clock, scientists such as de Bekker can hone in on answering how and why this phenomenon occurs.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 quite understand yet how parasites manipulate their hosts with such precision,鈥� said de Bekker, an assistant professor in biology. 鈥淓ven the most brilliant neurologists can鈥檛 change behavior that effectively. The goal of my lab, therefore, is to learn more about this.鈥�
Infected ants are found in Central 性视界传媒, including the Little Big Econ State Forest near Geneva and the Arboretum at 性视界传媒. While the majority of infected ants have been found in rainforests, this phenomenon has been observed across the globe, said de Bekker, who holds a doctorate in biology.
The first hint that the fungal parasite may hijack the ants鈥� biological clock came from field studies that observed infected ants all actively searched for an elevated piece of vegetation to bite down on at the same time of day. Later laboratory studies showed similar results that indicated the time of day may be an important factor for the manipulating fungus.
De Bekker and her team, which consists of 性视界传媒 undergraduate and graduate students, now plan to further this new avenue of research to hopefully one day better understand how biological clocks are disturbed by parasites. Scientists in Scotland are already researching how biological clocks are involved in malaria, and a team of medical researchers last month won the Nobel Prize for research on the molecular structure of the biological clock of fruit flies. De Bekker sees the role of biological clocks in infectious diseases as the next big thing for scientists to study. Scientists can better understand how diseases internally impact humans by knowing more about parasites and their impact on the biological clock.
De Bekker and her team鈥檚 research takes place in a lab at 性视界传媒, as well as in the field at Little Big Econ State Forest and the 性视界传媒 Arboretum.
In the lab, ants are infected with the parasite so the team can observe their behavior in a controlled environment. Ian Will, a Ph.D. student and co-author of the published paper, closely watches the ants to better determine when and how ants act differently after they鈥檙e infected.
鈥淚鈥檓 interested in uncovering the genes that are involved in parasitic behavioral manipulation and how,鈥� he said.
Will met de Bekker in Munich, Germany, in 2014 while pursuing his master鈥檚 degree. He was also intrigued by the parasite, and followed de Bekker to Orlando after she arrived at 性视界传媒 to continue the line of research together.
鈥淚n Munich, we didn鈥檛 have the ants 鈥� we had to ship them,鈥� De Bekker said 鈥淏eing here [in 性视界传媒], the ants and the fungus are all around us, which gives us all of these opportunities to work both in the lab and in the field.鈥�