Most animals digest their food within their own bodies, but some do not. Many species of ants grow fungus gardens that pre-digest food as an essential step of the ants’ nutrient uptake. To better understand this digestion process, we generated a 3D molecular map of an Atta texana fungus garden, revealing chemical modifications mediated by the fungus garden as plant material passes through.

中文翻译：

---

蚂蚁真菌园充当外部消化系统

大多数动物在自己的体内消化食物，但有些则不能。许多种类的蚂蚁会在真菌园中预先消化食物，这是蚂蚁吸收养分的重要步骤。为了更好地了解这种消化过程，我们生成了德士塔木耳真菌花园的3D分子图，揭示了植物材料通过时真菌花园介导的化学修饰。