2024-01-05 01:01:00
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5 Jan. 2024 08:01 a.m.
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Matabele Ant (Megaponera analis) or African Matabele Ant Nicknamed “ant doctors”, they are distributed in the southern part of the Sahara Desert. The only food they eat is termites. But termite hunting is not easy. It is also dangerous to ants. This is because termites will act like an army to protect their colony. Therefore, it is normal for ants to get injured while hunting termites. And if the wound becomes infected, it is very risky and may not survive.
But the Matabele ants have developed their own complex health care system. It was recently reported in the journal Nature Communications. From a research team led by Dr. Eric Frank from Julius-Maximilian University. of Würtzburg (JMU) in Germany and Professor Laurent Keller from the University of Lausanne. in switzerland It is said that Matabele ants have the intelligence to distinguish between uninfected and infected wounds. and treat each other with antibiotics that ants make themselves Chemical analysis in collaboration with JMU Professor Thomas Schmitt indicates that the hydrocarbon configuration of the outer surface of the ant’s body wall has changed. as a result of wound infection It is this change that allows ants to recognize and diagnose the infected condition of their injured ant friends.
In traditional ant therapy, ants apply antimicrobial substances and proteins to infected wounds. They take these antibiotics from the metapleural glands on the side of the chest. The secretion contains 112 components, half of which have antimicrobial properties. or help heal wounds The therapy is highly effective. The researchers found that the death rate of infected ants decreased by 90%. This led the researchers to plan an analysis of antibiotics, because Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the pathogen in the ant wounds. It is also an important cause of infection in humans.
Credit: Erik Frank, University of Würzburg
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