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De Gasperin O, Blacher P, Sarton-Lohéac S, Grasso G, Corliss MK, Nicole S, Chérasse S, Aron S, Chapuisat M. A supergene-controlling social structure in Alpine ants also affects the dispersal ability and fecundity of each sex. Proc Biol Sci 2024; 291:20240494. [PMID: 38864332 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2024.0494] [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: 11/15/2023] [Accepted: 04/18/2024] [Indexed: 06/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Social organization, dispersal and fecundity coevolve, but whether they are genetically linked remains little known. Supergenes are prime candidates for coupling adaptive traits and mediating sex-specific trade-offs. Here, we test whether a supergene that controls social structure in Formica selysi also influences dispersal-related traits and fecundity within each sex. In this ant species, single-queen colonies contain only the ancestral supergene haplotype M and produce MM queens and M males, while multi-queen colonies contain the derived haplotype P and produce MP queens, PP queens and P males. By combining multiple experiments, we show that the M haplotype induces phenotypes with higher dispersal potential and higher fecundity in both sexes. Specifically, MM queens, MP queens and M males are more aerodynamic and more fecund than PP queens and P males, respectively. Differences between MP and PP queens from the same colonies reveal a direct genetic effect of the supergene on dispersal-related traits and fecundity. The derived haplotype P, associated with multi-queen colonies, produces queens and males with reduced dispersal abilities and lower fecundity. More broadly, similarities between the Formica and Solenopsis systems reveal that supergenes play a major role in linking behavioural, morphological and physiological traits associated with intraspecific social polymorphisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ornela De Gasperin
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne , Lausanne 1015, Switzerland
- Red de Ecoetología, Instituto de Ecología, A. C. , Xalapa, Veracruz 91073, Mexico
| | - Pierre Blacher
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne , Lausanne 1015, Switzerland
| | - Solenn Sarton-Lohéac
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne , Lausanne 1015, Switzerland
| | - Guglielmo Grasso
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne , Lausanne 1015, Switzerland
- University of Manchester , Manchester M13 9PL, UK
| | - Mia Kotur Corliss
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne , Lausanne 1015, Switzerland
| | - Sidonie Nicole
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne , Lausanne 1015, Switzerland
| | | | - Serge Aron
- Universite libre de Bruxelles , Brussels 1050, Belgium
| | - Michel Chapuisat
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne , Lausanne 1015, Switzerland
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Blacher P, De Gasperin O, Grasso G, Sarton-Lohéac S, Allemann R, Chapuisat M. Cryptic recessive lethality of a supergene controlling social organization in ants. Mol Ecol 2023; 32:1062-1072. [PMID: 36504171 DOI: 10.1111/mec.16821] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2022] [Revised: 11/23/2022] [Accepted: 12/05/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Supergenes are clusters of linked loci that control complex phenotypes, such as alternative forms of social organization in ants. Explaining the long-term maintenance of supergenes is challenging, particularly when the derived haplotype lacks homozygous lethality and causes gene drive. In the Alpine silver ant, Formica selysi, a large and ancient social supergene with two haplotypes, M and P, controls colony social organization. Single-queen colonies only contain MM females, while multiqueen colonies contain MP and PP females. The derived P haplotype, found only in multiqueen colonies, selfishly enhances its transmission through maternal effect killing, which could have led to its fixation. A population genetic model showed that a stable social polymorphism can only be maintained under a narrow set of conditions, which includes partial assortative mating by social form (which is known to occur in the wild), and low fitness of PP queens. With a combination of field and laboratory experiments, we show that the P haplotype has deleterious effects on female fitness. The survival rate of PP queens and workers was around half that of other genotypes. Moreover, P-carrying queens had lower fertility and fecundity compared to other queens. We discuss how cryptic lethal effects of the P haplotype help stabilize this ancient polymorphism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pierre Blacher
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Ornela De Gasperin
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.,Red de Ecoetología, Instituto de Ecología A. C., Veracruz, Mexico
| | - Guglielmo Grasso
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.,University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Solenn Sarton-Lohéac
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Roxane Allemann
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Michel Chapuisat
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
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Tafreshi AG, Otto SP, Chapuisat M. Unbalanced selection: the challenge of maintaining a social polymorphism when a supergene is selfish. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20210197. [PMID: 35694754 PMCID: PMC9189496 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0197] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Supergenes often have multiple phenotypic effects, including unexpected detrimental ones, because recombination suppression maintains associations among co-adapted alleles but also allows the accumulation of recessive deleterious mutations and selfish genetic elements. Yet, supergenes often persist over long evolutionary periods. How are such polymorphisms maintained in the face of selection, drive and drift? We present a population genetic model that investigates the conditions necessary for a stable polymorphic equilibrium when one of the supergene haplotypes is a selfish genetic element. The model fits the characteristics of the Alpine silver ant, Formica selysi, in which a large supergene underlies colony social organization, and one haplotype distorts Mendelian transmission by killing progeny that did not inherit it. The model shows that such maternal-effect killing strongly limits the maintenance of social polymorphism. Under random mating, transmission ratio distortion prevents rare single-queen colonies from invading populations of multiple-queen colonies, regardless of the fitness of each genotype. A stable polymorphic equilibrium can, however, be reached when high rates of assortative mating are combined with large fitness differences among supergene genotypes. The model reveals that the persistence of the social polymorphism is non-trivial and expected to occur only under restrictive conditions that deserve further empirical investigation. This article is part of the theme issue 'Genomic architecture of supergenes: causes and evolutionary consequences'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alireza G Tafreshi
- Department of Zoology and Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Z4
| | - Sarah P Otto
- Department of Zoology and Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Z4
| | - Michel Chapuisat
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
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Kay T, Helleu Q, Keller L. Iterative evolution of supergene-based social polymorphism in ants. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20210196. [PMID: 35694755 PMCID: PMC9189498 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0196] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2022] [Accepted: 03/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Species commonly exhibit alternative morphs, with individual fate being determined during development by either genetic factors, environmental cues or a combination thereof. Ants offer an interesting case study because many species are polymorphic in their social structure. Some colonies contain one queen while others contain many queens. This variation in queen number is generally associated with a suite of phenotypic and life-history traits, including mode of colony founding, queen lifespan, queen-worker dimorphism and colony size. The basis of this social polymorphism has been studied in five ant lineages, and remarkably social morph seems to be determined by a supergene in all cases. These 'social supergenes' tend to be large, having formed through serial inversions, and to comprise hundreds of linked genes. They have persisted over long evolutionary timescales, in multiple lineages following speciation events, and have spread between closely related species via introgression. Their evolutionary dynamics are unusually complex, combining recessive lethality, spatially variable selection, selfish genetic elements and non-random mating. Here, we synthesize the five cases of supergene-based social polymorphism in ants, highlighting interesting commonalities, idiosyncrasies and implications for the evolution of polymorphisms in general. This article is part of the theme issue 'Genomic architecture of supergenes: causes and evolutionary consequences'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tomas Kay
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Quentin Helleu
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Laurent Keller
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
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Fontcuberta A, Kapun M, Tran Van P, Purcell J, Chapuisat M. Effects of social organization and elevation on spatial genetic structure in a montane ant. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e8813. [PMID: 35600679 PMCID: PMC9108227 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8813] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2021] [Revised: 03/14/2022] [Accepted: 03/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Amaranta Fontcuberta
- Department of Ecology and Evolution University of Lausanne Lausanne Switzerland
| | - Martin Kapun
- Center for Anatomy and Cell Biology Department of Cell and Developmental Biology Medical University of Vienna Vienna Austria
- Natural History Museum of Vienna Vienna Austria
| | - Patrick Tran Van
- Department of Ecology and Evolution University of Lausanne Lausanne Switzerland
| | - Jessica Purcell
- Department of Ecology and Evolution University of Lausanne Lausanne Switzerland
- Department of Entomology University of California Riverside California USA
| | - Michel Chapuisat
- Department of Ecology and Evolution University of Lausanne Lausanne Switzerland
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Supergenes, supergenomes, and complex social traits. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:2118971118. [PMID: 34987104 PMCID: PMC8764664 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2118971118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
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7
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OUP accepted manuscript. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2022. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blac025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
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