### Dinosaur Extinction Paved the Way for Ant-Fungus Farming Revolution

A groundbreaking study has unveiled that the meteor impact which caused the extinction of dinosaurs 66 million years ago also set the stage for a mutually beneficial relationship between ants and fungi. This ancient symbiotic relationship, deemed one of the earliest forms of agriculture, emerged millions of years before human farming practices.

The cataclysmic event that wiped out the dinosaurs generated a low-light environment conducive to fungal growth. With an abundance of decaying organic matter, fungi thrived, providing an ample food source for early ants. According to research published in the journal Science, this era marked the beginning of a unique agricultural relationship where ants began cultivating fungi.

Researchers, including André Rodrigues from the Institute of Biosciences at São Paulo State University (IB-UNESP), have utilized ultraconserved elements (UCEs) from the genomes of 475 fungal species to pinpoint the timeline of this emergence. The findings confirm that two distinct fungal lineages, related to today's leafcutter ants, both emerged nearly simultaneously 66 million years ago.

This ancient agricultural practice is thought to represent the dawn of mutualism—one of the earliest forms of agriculture. Specialists argue that ants domesticating fungi precedes human plant domestication by tens of millions of years, with humans beginning agriculture only about 12,000 years ago.

The study further uncovered that about 21 million years ago, ants started cultivating a second group of fungi known as coral fungi, named for their resemblance to sea coral structures. This adaptation highlights how the ants' agriculture became more specialized and sophisticated over time.

The evolutionary success of this ant-fungi relationship can be attributed to a vital mutual dependency. Fungi, pre-adapted to thrive alongside ants, gained an essential role in their diet following the catastrophic meteor impact. In exchange for decomposing organic matter, the fungi provided crucial nutrients to the ants.

Today, modern descendants of these ancient agriculturalists cultivate four different types of fungi in various environments. Notably, these practices have led to fungi producing specialized nutritive structures, evidencing a high degree of coevolution.

The researchers suggest that these findings have substantial implications beyond understanding ant evolution. The enzymes produced by these farmed fungi show significant promise in biotechnology, particularly in degrading organic materials and even plastics.

The study sheds light on how a devastating event in Earth's history laid the groundwork for an intricate and lasting symbiotic relationship, one that has evolved into a sophisticated form of agriculture highly beneficial to both ants and the fungi they cultivate.