Intergenerational effect of juvenile hormone on offspring in Pogonomyrmex harvester ants

Juvenile hormone as a key regulator for asymmetric caste differentiation in ants

Caste differentiation involves many functional traits that diverge during larval growth and metamorphosis to produce adults irreversibly adapted to reproductive division of labor. Investigating developmental differentiation is important for general biological understanding and has increasingly been explored for social phenotypes that diverge in parallel from similar genotypes. Here, we use Monomorium pharaonis ants to investigate the extent to which canalized worker development can be shifted toward gyne (virgin-queen) phenotypes by juvenile hormone (JH) treatment. We show that excess JH can activate gyne-biased development in workers so that wing-buds, ocelli, antennal and genital imaginal discs, flight muscles, and gyne-like fat bodies and brains emerge after pupation. However, ovary development remained unresponsive to JH treatment, indicating that JH-sensitive germline sequestration happens well before somatic differentiation. Our findings reveal important qualitative restrictions in the extent to which JH treatment can redirect larval development and that these constraints are independent of body size. Our findings corroborate that JH is a key hormone for inducing caste differentiation but show that this process can be asymmetric for higher colony-level germline versus somatic caste differentiation in superorganisms as defined a century ago by Wheeler. We quantified gene expression changes in response to JH treatment throughout development and identified a set of JH-sensitive genes responsible for the emergence of gyne-like somatic traits. Our study suggests that the gonadotropic role of JH in ovary maturation has shifted from the individual level in solitary insects to the colony level in an evolutionary-derived and highly polygynous superorganism like the pharaoh ant.

Sex- and caste-specific developmental responses to juvenile hormone in an ant with maternal caste determination

Juvenile hormone is considered to be a master regulator of polyphenism in social insects. In the ant Cardiocondyla obscurior, whether a female egg develops into a queen or a worker is determined maternally and caste-specific differentiation occurs in embryos, so that queens and workers can be distinguished in a non-invasive manner from late embryogenesis onwards. This ant also exhibits two male morphs - winged and wingless males. Here, we used topical treatment with juvenile hormone III and its synthetic analogue methoprene, a method that influences caste determination and differentiation in some ant species, to investigate whether hormone manipulation affects the development and growth of male, queen- and worker-destined embryos and larvae. We found no effect of hormone treatment on female caste ratios or body sizes in any of the treated stages, even though individuals reacted to heightened hormone availability with increased expression of krüppel-homolog 1, a conserved JH first-response gene. In contrast, hormone treatment resulted in the emergence of significantly larger males, although male morph fate was not affected. These results show that in C. obscurior, maternal caste determination leads to irreversible and highly canalized caste-specific development and growth.

DNA methylation and expression of the egfr gene are associated with worker size in monomorphic ants

The reproductive division of labour is a hallmark of eusocial Hymenoptera. Females are either reproductive queens or non-reproductive workers. In ants, workers often display further task specialisation that is associated with variation in size and/or morphology. Because female polyphenism is typically under environmental control, it is thought epigenetic mechanisms (such as DNA methylation) play a central role since they mediate gene-by-environment interactions. Methylation of the growth-promoting gene epidermal growth factor receptor (egfr) was indeed shown to control worker size in a highly polymorphic ant. However, it remains unknown if egfr methylation could also regulate worker size in monomorphic species. By combining experimental pharmacology and molecular biology, we show that worker size is associated with egfr methylation in two monomorphic ants. Furthermore, we functionally demonstrate that EGFR signalling affects worker size. These results indicate that worker size regulation by egfr methylation has been mechanistically conserved in ants but remains unexploited in monomorphic species.

Disentangling the roles of social and individual effects on cadmium tolerance in the ant Temnothorax nylanderi

Urbanization brings new pressures for individuals. Among them, trace elements, such as cadmium, are important stressors. A recent study highlights a weaker negative effect of cadmium on city colonies relative to their forest counterparts in the ant Temnothorax nylanderi. Here, we aim to test whether the better tolerance of city colonies in this species results from a better ability of workers to rear larvae despite stressful conditions and/or a better ability of larvae to develop properly despite stressful conditions. We performed a cross-fostering experiment of workers and larvae from city and forest colonies, in common garden conditions in the laboratory. Colonies were fed using cadmium-enriched or cadmium-free food for 2 months, and we measured four life-history traits. As expected, cadmium had a negative impact on all traits. Unexpectedly, we did not observe a better tolerance of city colonies to cadmium, contrary to our previous study, which prevented us from disentangling the respective contributions of workers and larvae to cadmium tolerance. Interestingly, forest colonies seemed to be of better quality in our laboratory conditions. Finally, colony size increased adult survival, but only in the absence of cadmium, suggesting that social buffering could collapse with strong external disturbances.

Diversity of Insect Sesquiterpenoid Regulation

Insects are arguably the most successful group of animals in the world in terms of both species numbers and diverse habitats. The sesquiterpenoids juvenile hormone, methyl farnesoate, and farnesoic acid are well known to regulate metamorphosis, reproduction, sexual dimorphism, eusociality, and defense in insects. Nevertheless, different insects have evolved with different sesquiterpenoid biosynthetic pathway as well as products. On the other hand, non-coding RNAs such as microRNAs have been implicated in regulation of many important biological processes, and have recently been explored in the regulation of sesquiterpenoid production. In this review, we summarize the latest findings on the diversity of sesquiterpenoids reported in different groups of insects, as well as the recent advancements in the understanding of regulation of sesquiterpenoid production by microRNAs.

Expression analysis of vitellogenins in the workers of the red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta)

Vitellogenin has been proposed to regulate division of labor and social organization in social insects. The red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta) harbors four distinct, adjacent vitellogenin genes (Vg1, Vg2, Vg3, and Vg4). Contrary to honey bees that have a single Vg ortholog as well as potentially fertile nurses, and to other ant species that lay trophic eggs, S. invicta workers completely lack ovaries or the ability to lay eggs. This provides a unique model to investigate whether Vg duplication in S. invicta was followed by subfunctionalization to acquire non-reproductive functions and whether Vg was co-opted to regulate behavior within the worker caste. To investigate these questions, we compared the expression patterns of S. invicta Vg genes among workers from different morphological subcastes or performing different tasks. RT-qPCRs revealed higher relative expression of Vg1 in major workers compared to both medium and minor workers, and of Vg2 in major workers when compared to minor workers. Relative expression of Vg1 was also higher in carbohydrate foragers when compared to nurses and protein foragers. By contrast, the level of expression of Vg2, Vg3, and Vg4 were not significantly different among the workers performing the specific tasks. Additionally, we analyzed the relationship between the expression of the Vg genes and S-hydroprene, a juvenile hormone analog. No changes in Vg expression were recorded in workers 12 h after application of the analog. Our results suggest that in S. invicta the Vg gene underwent subfunctionalization after duplication to new functions based on the expression bias observed in these data. This may suggest an alternative and still unknown function for Vg in the workers that needs to be investigated further.

The Role of Brood in Eusocial Hymenoptera

Study of social traits in offspring traditionally reflects on interactions in simple family groups, with famous examples including parent-offspring conflict and sibling rivalry in birds and mammals. In contrast, studies of complex social groups such as the societies of ants, bees, and wasps focus mainly on adults and, in particular, on traits and interests of queens and workers. The social role of developing individuals in complex societies remains poorly understood. We attempt to fill this gap by illustrating that development in social Hymenoptera constitutes a crucial life stage with important consequences for the individual as well as the colony. We begin by describing the complex social regulatory network that modulates development in Hymenoptera societies. By highlighting the inclusive fitness interests of developing individuals, we show that they may differ from those of other colony members. We then demonstrate that offspring have evolved specialized traits that allow them to play a functional, cooperative role within colonies and give them the potential power to act toward increasing their inclusive fitness. We conclude by providing testable predictions for investigating the role of brood in colony interactions and giving a general outlook on what can be learned from studying offspring traits in hymenopteran societies.

Behavioural effects of juvenile hormone and their influence on division of labour in leaf-cutting ant societies

Division of labour in social insects represents a major evolutionary transition, but the physiological mechanisms that regulate this are still little understood. Experimental work with honey bees, and correlational analyses in other social insects, have implicated juvenile hormone (JH) as a regulatory factor, but direct experimental evidence of behavioural effects of JH in social insects is generally lacking. Here, we used experimental manipulation of JH to show that raised JH levels in leaf-cutting ants results in workers becoming more active, phototactic and threat responsive, and engaging in more extranidal activity - behavioural changes that we show are all characteristic of the transition from intranidal work to foraging. These behavioural effects on division of labour suggest that the JH mediation of behaviour occurs across multiple independent evolutions of eusociality, and may be a key endocrine regulator of the division of labour which has produced the remarkable ecological and evolutionary success of social insects.

Maternal programming of offspring in relation to food availability in an insect (Forficula auricularia)

Maternal effects can induce adjustments in offspring phenotype to the environment experienced by the mother. Of particular interest is if mothers can programme their offspring to cope best under matching environmental conditions, but the evidence for such anticipatory maternal effects (AME) is limited. In this study, we manipulated experimentally the food availability experienced by mothers and their offspring in the European earwig (Forficula auricularia). Offspring produced by females that had access to high or low food quantities were cross-fostered to foster mothers experiencing matched or mismatched environments. Offspring experiencing food availability matching the one of their mothers had an increased survival to adulthood compared with offspring experiencing mismatched conditions. Females experiencing high food laid larger clutches. This clutch-size adjustment statistically explained the matching effect when offspring experienced high food, but not when experiencing low food conditions. There were no effects of matching on offspring growth and developmental rate. Overall, our study demonstrates that AME occurs in relation to food availability enhancing offspring survival to adulthood under matching food conditions.

Interplay between insulin signaling, juvenile hormone, and vitellogenin regulates maternal effects on polyphenism in ants

Polyphenism is the phenomenon in which alternative phenotypes are produced by a single genotype in response to environmental cues. An extreme case is found in social insects, in which reproductive queens and sterile workers that greatly differ in morphology and behavior can arise from a single genotype. Experimental evidence for maternal effects on caste determination, the differential larval development toward the queen or worker caste, was recently documented in Pogonomyrmex seed harvester ants, in which only colonies with a hibernated queen produce new queens. However, the proximate mechanisms behind these intergenerational effects have remained elusive. We used a combination of artificial hibernation, hormonal treatments, gene expression analyses, hormone measurements, and vitellogenin quantification to investigate how the combined effect of environmental cues and hormonal signaling affects the process of caste determination in Pogonomyrmex rugosus. The results show that the interplay between insulin signaling, juvenile hormone, and vitellogenin regulates maternal effects on the production of alternative phenotypes and set vitellogenin as a likely key player in the intergenerational transmission of information. This study reveals how hibernation triggers the production of new queens in Pogonomyrmex ant colonies. More generally, it provides important information on maternal effects by showing how environmental cues experienced by one generation can translate into phenotypic variation in the next generation.