Fungus-growing ants (the attines) are a paramount example of symbiosis, practicing fungiculture for food. Fungi in the genus Escovopsis (Ascomycota: Hypocreales) threaten the ant fungal cultivars and show patterns of specificity towards them. Escovopsis trichodermoides was described from colonies of the lower attine Mycocepurus goeldii, however, its ecological role is still unknown. Here we provide clues of the generalist nature of E. trichodermoides, with lack of fidelity to fungal cultivars from different attine ant species and low infection in ant colonies of M. goeldii. Inhibitory soluble compounds are produced by E. trichodermoides towards different fungal cultivars, as a mechanism of interference competition. Interestingly this generalist lifestyle is not a common trait of Escovopsis species, which usually show partner fidelity. Our study indicates that Escovopsis has more lifestyles than previously thought, prompting further investigations on its evolution in the attine ant-fungal symbiosis.

真菌生长的蚂蚁（attines）是共生的最重要例子，它以食用真菌为食。Escovopsis（Ascomycota：Hypocreales）属中的真菌威胁着蚂蚁真菌品种，并表现出对它们的特异性模式。香菇是从较低的attine Mycocepurus goeldii的菌落中描述的，但是其生态作用仍是未知的。在这里，我们提供了大肠杆菌（E. trichodermoides）的笼统性质的线索，缺乏对来自不同常规蚂蚁物种的真菌品种的保真度和在戈尔德疟原虫（M. goeldii）的蚂蚁菌落中的低感染力。抑制性化合物是由曲霉大肠杆菌产生的对不同的真菌品种，作为干扰竞争的机制。有趣的是，这种多面手的生活方式并不是Escovopsis物种的共同特征，通常表现出伴侣的忠诚。我们的研究表明，Escovopsis的生活方式比以前想象的要多，这促使人们对其在普通的蚂蚁-真菌共生中的进化进行了进一步的研究。