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Yang H, Lee D, Kim H, Cook DE, Paik YK, Andersen EC, Lee J. Glial expression of a steroidogenic enzyme underlies natural variation in hitchhiking behavior. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2320796121. [PMID: 38959036 PMCID: PMC11252821 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2320796121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2023] [Accepted: 06/10/2024] [Indexed: 07/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Phoresy is an interspecies interaction that facilitates spatial dispersal by attaching to a more mobile species. Hitchhiking species have evolved specific traits for physical contact and successful phoresy, but the regulatory mechanisms involved in such traits and their evolution are largely unexplored. The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans displays a hitchhiking behavior known as nictation during its stress-induced developmental stage. Dauer-specific nictation behavior has an important role in natural C. elegans populations, which experience boom-and-bust population dynamics. In this study, we investigated the nictation behavior of 137 wild C. elegans strains sampled throughout the world. We identified species-wide natural variation in nictation and performed a genome-wide association mapping. We show that the variants in the promoter of nta-1, encoding a putative steroidogenic enzyme, underlie differences in nictation. This difference is due to the changes in nta-1 expression in glial cells, which implies that glial steroid metabolism regulates phoretic behavior. Population genetic analysis and geographic distribution patterns suggest that balancing selection maintained two nta-1 haplotypes that existed in ancestral C. elegans populations. Our findings contribute to further understanding of the molecular mechanism of species interaction and the maintenance of genetic diversity within natural populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heeseung Yang
- Department of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul08826, Republic of Korea
| | - Daehan Lee
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL60208
- Department of Biological Sciences, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon16419, Republic of Korea
| | - Heekyeong Kim
- Yonsei Proteome Research Center, Yonsei University, Seoul03722, Republic of Korea
| | - Daniel E. Cook
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL60208
| | - Young-Ki Paik
- Yonsei Proteome Research Center, Yonsei University, Seoul03722, Republic of Korea
| | - Erik C. Andersen
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL60208
| | - Junho Lee
- Department of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul08826, Republic of Korea
- Research Institute of Basic Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul08826, Republic of Korea
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Liu W, Li Q. Single-cell transcriptomics dissecting the development and evolution of nervous system in insects. CURRENT OPINION IN INSECT SCIENCE 2024; 63:101201. [PMID: 38608931 DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2024.101201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2024] [Revised: 04/07/2024] [Accepted: 04/08/2024] [Indexed: 04/14/2024]
Abstract
Insects can display a vast repertoire of complex and adaptive behaviors crucial for survival and reproduction. Yet, how the neural circuits underlying insect behaviors are assembled throughout development and remodeled during evolution remains largely obscure. The advent of single-cell transcriptomics has opened new paths to illuminate these historically intractable questions. Insect behavior is governed by its brain, whose functional complexity is realized through operations across multiple levels, from the molecular and cellular to the circuit and organ. Single-cell transcriptomics enables dissecting brain functions across all these levels and allows tracking regulatory dynamics throughout development and under perturbation. In this review, we mainly focus on the achievements of single-cell transcriptomics in dissecting the molecular and cellular architectures of nervous systems in representative insects, then discuss its applications in tracking the developmental trajectory and functional evolution of insect brains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Weiwei Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China; Yunnan Key Laboratory of Biodiversity Information, Kunming, China.
| | - Qiye Li
- BGI Research, Shenzhen 518083, China; BGI Research, Wuhan 430074, China; College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
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Stuart SH, Ahmed ACC, Kilikevicius L, Robinson GE. Effects of microRNA-305 knockdown on brain gene expression associated with division of labor in honey bee colonies (Apis mellifera). J Exp Biol 2024; 227:jeb246785. [PMID: 38517067 PMCID: PMC11112348 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.246785] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2023] [Accepted: 03/13/2024] [Indexed: 03/23/2024]
Abstract
Division of labor in honey bee colonies is based on the behavioral maturation of adult workers that involves a transition from working in the hive to foraging. This behavioral maturation is associated with distinct task-related transcriptomic profiles in the brain and abdominal fat body that are related to multiple regulatory factors including juvenile hormone (JH) and queen mandibular pheromone (QMP). A prominent physiological feature associated with behavioral maturation is a loss of abdominal lipid mass as bees transition to foraging. We used transcriptomic and physiological analyses to study whether microRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in the regulation of division of labor. We first identified two miRNAs that showed patterns of expression associated with behavioral maturation, ame-miR-305-5p and ame-miR-375-3p. We then downregulated the expression of these two miRNAs with sequence-specific antagomirs. Neither ame-miR-305-5p nor ame-miR-375-3p knockdown in the abdomen affected abdominal lipid mass on their own. Similarly, knockdown of ame-miR-305-5p in combination with JH or QMP also did not affect lipid mass. By contrast, ame-miR-305-5p knockdown in the abdomen caused substantial changes in gene expression in the brain. Brain gene expression changes included genes encoding transcription factors previously implicated in behavioral maturation. The results of these functional genomic experiments extend previous correlative associations of microRNAs with honey bee division of labor and point to specific roles for ame-miR-305-5p.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarai H. Stuart
- Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
- Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
| | - Amy C. Cash Ahmed
- Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
| | - Laura Kilikevicius
- Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
| | - Gene E. Robinson
- Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
- Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
- Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
- Department of Entomology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
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Pyenson BC, Rehan SM. Gene regulation supporting sociality shared across lineages and variation in complexity. Genome 2024; 67:99-108. [PMID: 38096504 DOI: 10.1139/gen-2023-0054] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2024]
Abstract
Across evolutionary lineages, insects vary in social complexity, from those that exhibit extended parental care to those with elaborate divisions of labor. Here, we synthesize the sociogenomic resources from hundreds of species to describe common gene regulatory mechanisms in insects that regulate social organization across phylogeny and levels of social complexity. Different social phenotypes expressed by insects can be linked to the organization of co-expressing gene networks and features of the epigenetic landscape. Insect sociality also stems from processes like the emergence of parental care and the decoupling of ancestral genetic programs. One underexplored avenue is how variation in a group's social environment affects the gene expression of individuals. Additionally, an experimental reduction of gene expression would demonstrate how the activity of specific genes contributes to insect social phenotypes. While tissue specificity provides greater localization of the gene expression underlying social complexity, emerging transcriptomic analysis of insect brains at the cellular level provides even greater resolution to understand the molecular basis of social insect evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Sandra M Rehan
- Department of Biology, York University, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada
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Matsushima T, Izumi T, Vallortigara G. The domestic chick as an animal model of autism spectrum disorder: building adaptive social perceptions through prenatally formed predispositions. Front Neurosci 2024; 18:1279947. [PMID: 38356650 PMCID: PMC10864568 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2024.1279947] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2023] [Accepted: 01/10/2024] [Indexed: 02/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Equipped with an early social predisposition immediately post-birth, humans typically form associations with mothers and other family members through exposure learning, canalized by a prenatally formed predisposition of visual preference to biological motion, face configuration, and other cues of animacy. If impaired, reduced preferences can lead to social interaction impairments such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) via misguided canalization. Despite being taxonomically distant, domestic chicks could also follow a homologous developmental trajectory toward adaptive socialization through imprinting, which is guided via predisposed preferences similar to those of humans, thereby suggesting that chicks are a valid animal model of ASD. In addition to the phenotypic similarities in predisposition with human newborns, accumulating evidence on the responsible molecular mechanisms suggests the construct validity of the chick model. Considering the recent progress in the evo-devo studies in vertebrates, we reviewed the advantages and limitations of the chick model of developmental mental diseases in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Toshiya Matsushima
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
- Faculty of Pharmaceutical Science, Health Science University of Hokkaido, Tobetsu, Japan
- Centre for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy
| | - Takeshi Izumi
- Faculty of Pharmaceutical Science, Health Science University of Hokkaido, Tobetsu, Japan
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Negroni MA, LeBoeuf AC. Social administration of juvenile hormone to larvae increases body size and nutritional needs for pupation. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2023; 10:231471. [PMID: 38126067 PMCID: PMC10731321 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.231471] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2023] [Accepted: 11/28/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023]
Abstract
Social insects often display extreme variation in body size and morphology within the same colony. In many species, adult morphology is socially regulated by workers during larval development. While larval nutrition may play a role in this regulation, it is often difficult to identify precisely what larvae receive from rearing workers, especially when larvae are fed through social regurgitation. Across insects, juvenile hormone is a major regulator of development. In the ant Camponotus floridanus, this hormone is present in the socially regurgitated fluid of workers. We investigated the role the social transfer of juvenile hormone in the social regulation of development. To do this, we administered an artificial regurgitate to larvae through a newly developed handfeeding method that was or was not supplemented with juvenile hormone. Orally administered juvenile hormone increased the nutritional needs of larvae, allowing them to reach a larger size at pupation. Instead of causing them to grow faster, the juvenile hormone treatment extended larval developmental time, allowing them to accumulate resources over a longer period. Handfeeding ant larvae with juvenile hormone resulted in larger adult workers after metamorphosis, suggesting a role for socially transferred juvenile hormone in the colony-level regulation of worker size over colony maturation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matteo A. Negroni
- Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, Chemin du Musée 10, 1700, Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - Adria C. LeBoeuf
- Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, Chemin du Musée 10, 1700, Fribourg, Switzerland
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, UK
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Rogers J. Hormonal gatekeeper of distinct social behaviours. Nat Rev Neurosci 2023; 24:654. [PMID: 37770620 DOI: 10.1038/s41583-023-00755-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/30/2023]
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