Study: Chemical Ant Factories Can Replace Pesticides

According to a new Danish study, the ants have been responsible for producing the chemical compounds which are effectively inhibiting the plant pathogens, even in the places where the current pesticides are now giving up.

It has been recently discovered that, the Tetraponera ant found in Africa carry the chemical compounds on its body, which are able to kill the MRSA bacteria, a bacterium that is know because it a resistant to antibiotics and it also attacks humans. Although, the plant and the production of the plant-based foods are also threatened by the resistant plant diseases, and hence, the plants might also be benefitted from the compounds that had been produced by the ants for the purpose of protecting themselves.

In a new study, the researchers have found that, a high number of the chemical compounds produced from the ant bacteria and ant glands that were able to kill the plant pathogens, which is why, the researchers of the study have been suggesting that, they can possibly apply ants and their chemicals for the purpose of protecting the agricultural plant protection.

Joachim Offenberg, a researcher from the Institute of Bioscience at Aarhus University said, the ants are used to live in the dense societies, which is why the ants have evolved many different antibiotics for the purpose of protecting themselves and these compounds are also having some significant effect on different varieties of plant pathogens.

The researchers of the study have also shown that, the wood ants that were moved into the apple plantation had been able to decrease the number of apples getting infected by two different types of apple diseases.