October 2024

Field work in FLONA Carajás

The LESF team and collaborators (Nicole Gerardo and Jeffrey Sosa-Calvo) did an awesome field work in Floresta Nacional de Carajás, in Parauapebas-PA, Brazil. The team spent 15 days collecting and studying fungus-growing ants and their associate fungi

July 2024

UNESP Portas Abertas

LESF will showcase research on attine ants and the associate microbiome. Visit our Campus for exciting science and lots of fun...

May 2024

Jornal da UNESP depicts FAPESP grant by LESF

Check this news here (in Portuguese). LESF congratulates all students and alumni for taking part of the grand quest to deciphere the microbiome of attine ant gardens.

February 2024

X Brazilian Mycological Congress

The lab joined for a mass attendance in the X Brazilian Mycological Congress held in Belo Horizonte (MG), Brazil. Time for lots of science, discussion, reunion and...fun :-)

December 2023

Outreach

Unraveling the hidden world of attine ants: a short essay on yeasts associated with these insects by former LESF member Rodolfo Bizarria Jr. Check this outreach article here.

September 2023

Outreach

Underground gardens (Jardins subterrâneos). Photo by Mariana Barcoto published in Revista Pesquisa FAPESP

June 2023

Outreach

Organized by TV UNESP, LESF grad students together with the postdoc Diego Assis discuss why projects directed to study microbes in association with leaf-cutting ants is a fascinating and important task.

March 2023

Podcast by Mariana Barcoto

#18 A função vital das bactérias para as formigas. Check the podcast here. 

February 2023

Go, go LESF... new paper by Maria Jesus Sutta Martiarena !!

Check this paper in Microbial Ecology brings awesome photos of bacterial biolfims on attine ant fungal cultivar.

January 2023

New LESF members: Mateus Oliveira da Cruz and Raphael Affonso 

Wecolme to LESF, hope you have a brillant path ahead in your academic life :-)

June 2022

Outreach

LESF grad students and our collaborator Dr. Mauricio Bacci Jr. discussed insects, microbial symbionts and science. Check it out......

August 2021

FAPESP scholarship awarded!

Mariana was awarded a FAPESPPhD scholarship. Congratulations!

February 2020

FAPESP scholarship is in the oven!

Rodolfo had his FAPESP PhD scholarship approved. Congratulations!

January 2020

Dr. Pepijn Kooij joined LESF as research associate for a year.

Greetings, Pepijn! Welcome to our group. Pepijn is in our lab under the CAPES/PrInt program. 

May 2019

New student joins LESF for a Master degree!

Welcome to our group, Morgana Turunday!

March 2018

LESF member Beatriz and Maryana!

Both had scholarships approved for their Master degree. Congratulations!

March 2018

New paper published by LESF member

Lorena's paper is out in Mycological Progress. Check her publication here.

February 2018

New paper published by LESF member

Tássio's paper (former Ph.D. student) is out in BMC Genomics. Check his publication here.

January 2018

LESF member Tatiane!

Tatiane had her CAPES scholarship approved. Congratulations!

November 2017

LESF member Rodolfo!

Rodolfo had his FAPESP scholarship approved. Congratulations!

July 2017

LESF member Bruna!

Bruna had her FAPESP scholarship approved. Congratulations!

April 2017

New paper published by LESF member

Sadala's first paper describes how Escovopsis and Escovopsioides fungi interact with the fungus cultivated by leaf-cutting ants. Check this publication here. ​

September 2016

New fungal disease in ant fungus gardens

Mariana Barcoto's first paper describes how Syncephalastrum fungi can impact the fungiculture by attine ants. Check this publication here. ​

April 2016

Fungi and attine ant gardens

How many fungi one can find in an ant colony? Check our latest publication here. 

January 2016

New Trichoderma species from ant colonies

Our student from Peru, Quimi Montoya, discovered three new species from attine ant colonies. You find this awelsome LESF publication here.

November 2015

Fungal parasites in leaf-cutting ant colonies​

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Check this news published by FAPESP about our lastest research paper - Meirelles et al. (2015). Also, check the documentary about our lab.