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Michael Poulsen |
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Ph.D. Student |
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| Phone - +45 35 32 13 20 | ||
| Fax - +45 35 32 12 50 | ||
| email - mpoulsen@zi.ku.dk | ||
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Michael Poulsen |
|
|
|
||
|
Ph.D. Student |
||
| Phone - +45 35 32 13 20 | ||
| Fax - +45 35 32 12 50 | ||
| email - mpoulsen@zi.ku.dk | ||
My primary interests are the possible reproductive conflicts of interest that can arise between hosts and symbionts in mutualistic relationships. Such conflicts most probably have a negative impact on the outcome of the cooperation between partners in such relationships. Thus, mechanisms to prevent them are expected to be present and align the interests between partners. Leaf-cutting ants are ideal for studying such possible conflicts since they host two mutualistic microorganisms:1. A basidiomycete fungus that serve as the primary food source for the ants, and 2. A Streptomyces bacterium that serves a specific defence function against a potentially virulent pathogen of leaf-cutting ant fungus gardens.
 | Poulsen, M., Bot, A.N.M., Currie, C.R. and Boomsma, J.J. (2002) Mutualistic bacteria and a possible trade-off between alternative defence mechanisms in Acromyrmex leaf-cutting ants. Insectes Sociaux 49, 15-19. |
| Poulsen, M., Bot, A.N.M., Nielsen, M.G. and Boomsma, J.J. (2002) Experimental evidence for the costs and hygienic significance of the antibiotic metapleural gland secretion in leaf-cutting ants. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 52, 151-157. |
| Poulsen, M., Bot, A.N.M., Currie, C.R., Nielsen, M.G. and Boomsma, J.J. (2003) Within colony transmission and the cost of a mutualistic bacterium in the leaf-cutting ant Acromyrmex octospinosus. Functional Ecology 17, 260-269. |
| Poulsen, M., Bot, A.N.M. and Boomsma, J.J. (2003) The effect of metapleural gland secretion on the growth of a mutualistic bacterium on the cuticle of leaf-cutting ants. Naturwissenschaften 90, 406-409. |
Last updated: 17th of September 2003
