The carpenter ant Camponotus rufipes has intracellular bacteria in bacteriocytes scattered in the midgut epithelium, which have different amounts of endosymbionts, according to the developmental stages. However, there are no detailed data about the midgut cells in adult workers. The present work aimed to evaluate the morphology and cellular events that coordinate the abundance of endosymbionts in the midgut cells in C. rufipes workers. The midgut epithelium has digestive cells, bacteriocytes, and cells with intermediate morphology. The latter is similar to bacteriocytes, due to the abundance of endosymbionts, and similar to digestive cells, due to their microvilli. The digestive and intermediate cells are rich in autophagosomes and autolysosomes, both with bacteria debris in the lumen. These findings suggest that midgut cells of C. rufipes control the endosymbiont level by the autophagy pathway.

中文翻译：

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Carpenter ant Camponotus rufipes中肠细菌细胞的超微结构：自噬控制内共生体

木匠蚂蚁红斑羚根据发育阶段，中肠上皮中散布的细菌细胞中有细胞内细菌，具有不同数量的内共生体。然而，没有关于成年工人中肠细胞的详细数据。目前的工作旨在评估协调中肠细胞内共生体丰度的形态和细胞事件。C. rufipes工作人员。中肠上皮有消化细胞、细菌细胞和中等形态的细胞。后者由于内共生体的丰富而类似于细菌细胞，并且由于它们的微绒毛而类似于消化细胞。消化细胞和中间细胞富含自噬体和自溶酶体，管腔内均含有细菌碎片。这些发现表明，中肠细胞C. rufipes通过自噬途径控制内共生体水平。