W.M. Keck Science Department Assistant Professor of Chemistry Ethan van Arnam co-authored a paper,聽听颈苍听Applied and Environmental Biology, that explored how symbiotic bacteria help fungus-growing ants suppress fungal pathogens through the production of antifungal compounds. 鈥淎nimal hosts often benefit from chemical defenses provided by microbes,鈥� the co-authors explain. 鈥淭hese molecular defenses are a potential source of novel antibiotics and offer opportunities for understanding how antibiotics are used in ecological contexts with defined interspecies interactions.鈥�