Table 3. Pseudonocardia, Amycolatopsis, Kribbella, Streptomyces, Solirubrobacter, and Microlunatus bacteria found in culture-dependent and culture-independent monthly surveys in the fungus-growing ant Trachymyrmex septentrionalis. The + sign indicates presence; an empty cell indicates absence; cells with “na” indicate that a sample was not available for screening. The presence of the specific bacterial genera listed was consistent across the monthly samples in the culture-independent screens. Pseudonocardia, Amycolatopsis, Kribbella, and Streptomyces were most frequently isolated in the months of June and July in the culture-dependent screens. Culture-independent screens failed to detect Kribbella in ant samples, whereas culture-dependent screens readily detected Kribbella. It is possible that Kribbella was not detected in the culture-independent screens because it is actually rare, but it grows well on the minimum-carbon chitin medium favoring autotrophic bacteria. In contrast to Kribbella, both Solirubrobacter and Microlunatus were found abundantly in the culture-independent screens, but were never isolated in the culture-dependent screens.

		Culture-Dependent Screen (chitin-medium isolation)									Culture-Independent Screen (454 sequencing)
Bacterium Culture	Sample Type	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug
# nests screened		2	1	4	4	4	5	4	3	3	0	1	5	4	4	5	3	3
Pseudonocardia	Excavated Soil											+	+	+	+	+	+	+
Chamber Soil												+	+	+	+	+	+
Garden						+	+					+		+	+	+	+
Garden Worker	+			+	+	+	+	+			+	+	+	+	+	+	+
Outside Worker				+	+	+	+	+			+	+	+	+	+	+	+
Reproductive Female	na	na	na	na	na	+	+	+	na		na	na	na	na	+	+	+
Male	na	na	na	na	na	+	na	na	na		na	na	na	na	+	na	na
Amycolatopsis	Excavated Soil												+	+	+			+
Chamber Soil					+	+						+	+	+	+	+
Garden							+								+
Garden Worker						+	+					+				+	+
Outside Worker						+	+	+							+
Reproductive Female	na	na	na	na	na	+			na		na	na	na	na	+		+
Male	na	na	na	na	na	+	na	na	na		na	na	na	na	+	na	na
Kribbella	Excavated Soil												+	+	+			+
Chamber Soil						+	+						+			+
Garden							+										+
Garden Worker	+					+	+
Outside Worker						+	+
Reproductive Female	na	na	na	na	na		+		na		na	na	na	na
Male	na	na	na	na	na		na	na	na		na	na	na	na		na	na
Streptomyces	Excavated Soil			+	+		+	+	+	+			+	+	+	+	+	+
Chamber Soil		+	+		+	+	+		+		+	+	+	+	+	+	+
Garden					+		+		+			+		+	+	+	+
Garden Worker			+	+	+	+	+	+			+	+	+	+	+	+	+
Outside Worker			+			+	+	+			+	+	+	+	+	+	+
Reproductive Female	na	na	na	na	na	+	+	+	na		na	na	na	na	+	+	+
Male	na	na	na	na	na	+	na	na	na		na	na	na	na	+	na	na
Solirubrobacter	Excavated Soil											+	+	+	+	+	+	+
Chamber Soil											+	+	+	+	+	+	+
Garden											+	+		+	+	+	+
Garden Worker											+	+	+	+	+	+	+
Outside Worker											+	+	+	+	+	+	+
Reproductive Female	na	na	na	na	na				na		na	na	na	na	+	+	+
Male	na	na	na	na	na		na	na	na		na	na	na	na	+	na	na
Microlunatus	Excavated Soil												+	+	+	+	+	+
Chamber Soil												+	+	+	+
Garden														+
Garden Worker											+	+	+	+	+	+	+
Outside Worker											+	+	+	+	+	+	+
Reproductive Female	na	na	na	na	na				na		na	na	na	na	+	+	+
Male	na	na	na	na	na		na	na	na		na	na	na	na	+	na	na