Data and R-script for: Chronic exposure to nicotine in diet enhances the lethal effect of an entomopathogenic fungus in the ant Cardiocondyla obscurior
Data files
Apr 16, 2026 version files 86.91 KB
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Brood_data.csv
24.76 KB
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CardioGut.csv
3.65 KB
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README.md
2.66 KB
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Rissanen_Freitak_script.R
8.58 KB
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Survival_data.csv
47.26 KB
Abstract
In the article, we investigated how the chronic use of nicotine polluted diets in two different concentrations impact the colony fitness in ant Cardiocondyla obscurior compared to a nicotine-free diet. We measured brood production and development, changes in relative abundances of bacterial endosymbionts, and how it affects worker survival in combination with a fungal pathogen. Chronic exposure to nicotine caused a concentration dependent effect in enhancing the lethality of the fungal infection, with higher concentrations causing higher mortality in infected colonies. In the absence of pathogens, nicotine had no effect on worker survival. Furthermore, nicotine did not affect brood production or development, nor clearly affect the abundances of the bacterial endosymbionts. Our results show that nicotine pollution in the environment can negatively affect ant fitness through synergistic effects in combination with a fungal pathogen. Pathogens play a significant part in the decline of insects, and the influence which nicotine pollution may have in exacerbating them should receive more attention.
Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.r2280gbqb
Description of the data and file structure
We collected data on brood production and development by counting all types of brood (eggs, larvae, pupae) under a microscope for each colony once a week.
Survival was in the colonies was monitored daily for 14 days after pathogen exposure, and dead ants were removed from the colonies.
The relative abundance of gut symbionts were analyzed by RT-qPCR, obtaining Cq values for each of two technical replicates of every sample in the beginning of the experiment (Week = 0) and after 4 weeks of exposure to polluted diets (Week = 4).
Files and variables
Brood_data.csv
Description: Contains all the raw data on the brood production in the experiment
Variables
Colony = experimental colonyID
OC = Original stock colony ID
Treatment = Infection treatment; C = Control, F = Infection
Diet = Nicotine concentration in the diets; A = 0 ppm, B = 2.5 ppm, C = 25 ppm
TD = Treatment/Diet combinations
Count = number of brood items
Brood_type = Type of brood; 1 = eggs, 2 = larvae, 3 = pupae
Week = Experimental timepoint
CardioGut.csv
Description: Contains the clean data on the relative abundance of the gut symbionts.
Variables
Content = experimental colonyID
Sample = target gene; EF1, nrdb, coxA
Diet = Nicotine concentration in the diets; Honey = 0 ppm, 2.5 = 2.5 ppm, 25 = 25 ppm
Week = Experimental timepoint
log = logarithmic transformation of the 2^-delta Cq value for each gene
Rissanen_Freitak_script.R
Description: Contains the commented R-script for the statistical analysis and visualization of the data
Survival_data.csv
Description: Contains the survival raw data from the experiment, with each individual ant being a row in the data frame.
Variables
Colony = experimental colonyID
Survival = Event based coding on the survival of each ant; 1 = dead, 0 alive.
Day = Day of survival event.
Treatment = Infection treatment; C = Control, F = Infection
Diet = Nicotine concentration in the diets; A = 0 ppm, B = 2.5 ppm, C = 25 ppm
Treatment/diet = Treatment/Diet combinations
OC = Original stock colony ID
Code/software
Rissanen&Freitak_script.R
Contains all used packages and functions for the analysis and visualization of the data.
README.txt
Contains detailed information about the files submitted.
Code/software
All data files are in .csv and .xlsx formats
Code is written in R