1
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Carmona-Aldana F, Yong LW, Reinberg D, Desplan C. Phenomenon of reproductive plasticity in ants. CURRENT OPINION IN INSECT SCIENCE 2024; 63:101197. [PMID: 38583769 PMCID: PMC11139587 DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2024.101197] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2023] [Revised: 03/26/2024] [Accepted: 03/31/2024] [Indexed: 04/09/2024]
Abstract
Ant colonies are organized in castes with distinct behaviors that together allow the colony to strive. Reproduction relies on one or a few queens that stay in the nest producing eggs, while females of the worker caste do not reproduce and instead engage in colony maintenance and brood caretaking. Yet, in spite of this clear separation of functions, workers can become reproductive under defined circumstances. Here, we review the context in which workers become reproductive, exhibiting asexual or sexual reproduction depending on the species. Remarkably, the activation of reproduction in these workers can be quite stable, with changes that include behavior and a dramatic extension of lifespan. We compare these changes between species that do or do not have a queen caste. We discuss how the mechanisms underlying reproductive plasticity include changes in hormonal functions and in epigenetic configurations. Further studies are warranted to elucidate not only how reproductive functions have been gradually restricted to the queen caste during evolution but also how reproductive plasticity remains possible in workers of some species.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Luok Wen Yong
- Department of Biology, New York University, NY 10003, USA
| | - Danny Reinberg
- Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation Department of Human Genetics, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33124, USA.
| | - Claude Desplan
- Department of Biology, New York University, NY 10003, USA; Center for Genomics and Systems Biology, New York University, Abu Dhabi 51133, United Arab Emirates.
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2
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Fulda FC. Agential autonomy and biological individuality. Evol Dev 2023; 25:353-370. [PMID: 37317487 DOI: 10.1111/ede.12450] [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] [Received: 11/17/2022] [Revised: 04/26/2023] [Accepted: 05/17/2023] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
What is a biological individual? How are biological individuals individuated? How can we tell how many individuals there are in a given assemblage of biological entities? The individuation and differentiation of biological individuals are central to the scientific understanding of living beings. I propose a novel criterion of biological individuality according to which biological individuals are autonomous agents. First, I articulate an ecological-dynamical account of natural agency according to which, agency is the gross dynamical capacity of a goal-directed system to bias its repertoire to respond to its conditions as affordances. Then, I argue that agents or agential dynamical systems can be agentially dependent on, or agentially autonomous from, other agents and that this agential dependence/autonomy can be symmetrical or asymmetrical, strong or weak. Biological individuals, I propose, are all and only those agential dynamical systems that are strongly agentially autonomous. So, to determine how many individuals there are in a given multiagent aggregate, such as multicellular organism, a colony, symbiosis, or a swarm, we first have to identify how many agential dynamical systems there are, and then what their relations of agential dependence/autonomy are. I argue that this criterion is adequate to the extent that it vindicates the paradigmatic cases, and explains why the paradigmatic cases are paradigmatic, and why the problematic cases are problematic. Finally, I argue for the importance of distinguishing between agential and causal dependence and show the relevance of agential autonomy for understanding the explanatory structure of evolutionary developmental biology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fermin C Fulda
- Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology, Faculty of Arts & Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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3
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Cullen G, Gilligan JB, Guhlin JG, Dearden PK. Germline progenitors and oocyte production in the honeybee queen ovary. Genetics 2023; 225:iyad138. [PMID: 37487025 PMCID: PMC10471204 DOI: 10.1093/genetics/iyad138] [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: 04/26/2023] [Revised: 06/28/2023] [Accepted: 06/30/2023] [Indexed: 07/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Understanding the reproduction of honeybee queens is crucial to support populations of this economically important insect. Here we examine the structure of the honeybee ovary to determine the nature of the germline progenitors in the ovary. Using a panel of marker genes that mark somatic or germline tissue in other insects we determine which cells in the honeybee ovary are somatic and which germline. We examine patterns of cell division and demonstrate that, unlike Drosophila, there is no evidence of single germline stem cells that provide the germline in honeybees. Germline progenitors are clustered in groups of 8 cells, joined by a polyfusome, and collections of these, in each ovariole, appear to maintain the germline during reproduction. We also show that these 8-cell clusters can divide and that their division occurs such that the numbers of germline progenitors are relatively constant over the reproductive life of queen honeybees. This information helps us to understand the diversity of structures in insect reproduction, and provide information to better support honeybee reproduction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Georgia Cullen
- Laboratory for Evolution and Development, Biochemistry Department, University of Otago, Dunedin, 9054, Aotearoa-New Zealand
| | - Joshua B Gilligan
- Laboratory for Evolution and Development, Biochemistry Department, University of Otago, Dunedin, 9054, Aotearoa-New Zealand
- Biological Heritage National Science Challenge, Biochemistry Department, University of Otago, Dunedin, 9054, Aotearoa-New Zealand
| | - Joseph G Guhlin
- Laboratory for Evolution and Development, Biochemistry Department, University of Otago, Dunedin, 9054, Aotearoa-New Zealand
- Genomics Aotearoa, Biochemistry Department, University of Otago, Dunedin, 9054, Aotearoa-New Zealand
| | - Peter K Dearden
- Laboratory for Evolution and Development, Biochemistry Department, University of Otago, Dunedin, 9054, Aotearoa-New Zealand
- Biological Heritage National Science Challenge, Biochemistry Department, University of Otago, Dunedin, 9054, Aotearoa-New Zealand
- Genomics Aotearoa, Biochemistry Department, University of Otago, Dunedin, 9054, Aotearoa-New Zealand
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4
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de Fouchier A, Leroy C, Khila A, d'Ettorre P. Discrimination of non-nestmate early brood in ants: behavioural and chemical analyses. Anim Behav 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2023.01.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/12/2023]
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5
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Schultner E, Wallner T, Dofka B, Brülhart J, Heinze J, Freitak D, Pokorny T, Oettler J. Queens control caste allocation in the ant Cardiocondyla obscurior. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20221784. [PMID: 36750190 PMCID: PMC9904955 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.1784] [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: 09/08/2022] [Accepted: 01/17/2023] [Indexed: 02/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Social insect queens and workers can engage in conflict over reproductive allocation when they have different fitness optima. Here, we show that queens have control over queen-worker caste allocation in the ant Cardiocondyla obscurior, a species in which workers lack reproductive organs. We describe crystalline deposits that distinguish castes from the egg stage onwards, providing the first report of a discrete trait that can be used to identify ant caste throughout pre-imaginal development. The comparison of queen and worker-destined eggs and larvae revealed size and weight differences in late development, but no discernible differences in traits that may be used in social interactions, including hair morphology and cuticular odours. In line with a lack of caste-specific traits, adult workers treated developing queens and workers indiscriminately. Together with previous studies demonstrating queen control over sex allocation, these results show that queens control reproductive allocation in C. obscurior and suggest that the fitness interests of colony members are aligned to optimize resource allocation in this ant.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eva Schultner
- Zoology/Evolutionary Biology, University of Regensburg, Universitätsstrasse 31, 93053 Regensburg, Germany
| | - Tobias Wallner
- Zoology/Evolutionary Biology, University of Regensburg, Universitätsstrasse 31, 93053 Regensburg, Germany
| | - Benjamin Dofka
- Zoology/Evolutionary Biology, University of Regensburg, Universitätsstrasse 31, 93053 Regensburg, Germany
| | - Jeanne Brülhart
- Zoology/Evolutionary Biology, University of Regensburg, Universitätsstrasse 31, 93053 Regensburg, Germany
| | - Jürgen Heinze
- Zoology/Evolutionary Biology, University of Regensburg, Universitätsstrasse 31, 93053 Regensburg, Germany
| | - Dalial Freitak
- Institute for Biology, University of Graz, Universitätsplatz 2, 8010 Graz, Austria
| | - Tamara Pokorny
- Zoology/Evolutionary Biology, University of Regensburg, Universitätsstrasse 31, 93053 Regensburg, Germany
| | - Jan Oettler
- Zoology/Evolutionary Biology, University of Regensburg, Universitätsstrasse 31, 93053 Regensburg, Germany
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6
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Knapp RA, Norman VC, Rouse JL, Duncan EJ. Environmentally responsive reproduction: neuroendocrine signalling and the evolution of eusociality. CURRENT OPINION IN INSECT SCIENCE 2022; 53:100951. [PMID: 35863739 PMCID: PMC9586883 DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2022.100951] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2021] [Revised: 07/06/2022] [Accepted: 07/11/2022] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
Eusociality is a rare but successful life-history strategy that is defined by the reproductive division of labour. In eusocial species, most females forgo their own reproduction to support that of a dominant female or queen. In many eusocial insects, worker reproduction is inhibited via dominance hierarchies or by pheromones produced by the queen and her brood. Here, we consider whether these cues may act as generic 'environmental signals', similar to temperature or nutrition stress, which induce a state of reproductive dormancy in some solitary insects. We review the recent findings regarding the mechanisms of reproductive dormancy in insects and highlight key gaps in our understanding of how environmental cues inhibit reproduction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosemary A Knapp
- School of Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
| | - Victoria C Norman
- School of Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
| | - James L Rouse
- School of Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
| | - Elizabeth J Duncan
- School of Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
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7
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Sieriebriennikov B. Complementary brains. Nat Ecol Evol 2022; 6:1060-1061. [PMID: 35711064 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-022-01805-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Bogdan Sieriebriennikov
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA. .,Department of Biology, New York University, New York, NY, USA.
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8
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Chung CY, Shigenobu S. Reproductive constraint in the social aphid Ceratovacuna japonica: Sterility regulation in the soldier caste of a viviparous insect. INSECT BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2022; 145:103756. [PMID: 35367587 DOI: 10.1016/j.ibmb.2022.103756] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2021] [Revised: 03/04/2022] [Accepted: 03/05/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Differentiation of the non-reproductive caste is a unique feature of eusocial insects. Apoptosis in oocytes plays a major role in constraining the reproductivity of the eusocial insects including bees, ants, and termites. However, the regulation of reproductive constraint in non-reproductives of primitively eusocial insects other than hymenopterans and blattodeans is almost unknown. Here, we investigated the soldier sterility in a hemipteran insect, the social aphid Ceratovacuna japonica. We compared the gonads of soldiers, that are completely sterile, with those of reproductives in their viviparous development. We found that soldiers possess a pair of ovaries and the same number of germaria as reproductives, but soldiers' ovarioles were small and lacking gastrulating embryos. Unlike in most model social insects, the staining of cleaved Caspase-3 showed apoptosis in the maternal nutritive cells, rather in the oocyte, of soldier ovaries. In addition, the ubiquitous C. japonica vasa1 and piwi2a expression indicates the developmental failure of embryos in soldier ovaries. The absence of posterior nos1, an insect posterior determinant, indicates deficient posterior patterning in soldier ovarioles. Our findings suggest a different mode of reproductive constraint, which regulates both oogenesis and embryogenesis in a viviparous insect ovary. This is the first report of the reproductive constraint in a viviparous social insect at the molecular level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chen-Yo Chung
- Laboratory of Evolutionary Genomics, National Institute for Basic Biology, Okazaki, 444-8585, Aichi, Japan
| | - Shuji Shigenobu
- Laboratory of Evolutionary Genomics, National Institute for Basic Biology, Okazaki, 444-8585, Aichi, Japan; Department of Basic Biology, School of Life Science, SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies), Okazaki, 444-8585, Japan.
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9
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Lieberman ZE, Billen J, Kamp T, Boudinot BE. The ant abdomen: the skeletomuscular and soft tissue anatomy of
Amblyopone australis
workers (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). J Morphol 2022; 283:693-770. [DOI: 10.1002/jmor.21471] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2021] [Revised: 02/28/2022] [Accepted: 03/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ziv Ellis Lieberman
- Department of Entomology and Nematology University of California Davis, One Shields Ave, Davis, CA, U. S. A. 95616
| | - Johan Billen
- Zoological Institute, University of Leuven, Naamsestraat 59, Box 2466, B‐3000 Leuven Belgium
| | - Thomas Kamp
- Institute for Photon Science and Synchrotron Radiation (IPS), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Hermann‐von‐Helmholtz‐Platz 1, 76344 Eggenstein‐Leopoldshafen Germany
- Laboratory for Applications of Synchrotron Radiation (LAS), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Kaiserstraße 12 Karlsruhe Germany
| | - Brendon Elias Boudinot
- Friedrich‐Schiller‐Universität Jena, Institut für Spezielle Zoologie und Evolutionsforschung, Entomologie Gruppe, Erbertstraße 1 07743 Jena Germany
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10
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Abouheif E. My road to the ants: A model clade for eco-evo-devo. Curr Top Dev Biol 2022; 147:231-290. [PMID: 35337451 DOI: 10.1016/bs.ctdb.2022.01.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
This chapter is the story of how I pioneered ants as a system for studying eco-evo-devo, a field that integrates developmental biology with ecology and evolutionary biology. One aim of eco-evo-devo is to understand how the interactions between genes and their environments during development facilitates the origin and evolution of novel phenotypes. In a series of six parts, I review some of the key discoveries from my lab on how novel worker caste systems in ants--soldiers and supersoldiers--originated and evolved. I also discuss some of the ideas that emerged from these discoveries, including the role that polyphenisms, hidden developmental potentials, and rudimentary organs play in facilitating developmental and evolutionary change. As superorganisms, I argue that ants are uniquely positioned to reveal types of variation that are often difficult to observe in nature. In doing so, they have the potential to transform our view of biology and provide new perspectives in medicine, agriculture, and biodiversity conservation. With my story I hope to inspire the next generation of biologists to continue exploring the unknown regions of phenotypic space to solve some of our most pressing societal challenges.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ehab Abouheif
- Department of Biology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
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11
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Ding G, Gao Q, Chen J, Zhao J, Zhang G, Liu W. Validation of Potential Reference Genes for Real-Time qPCR Analysis in Pharaoh Ant, Monomorium pharaonis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Front Physiol 2022; 13:852357. [PMID: 35295570 PMCID: PMC8919206 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2022.852357] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2022] [Accepted: 01/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Ants are highly diverse social insects living in colonies consisted of up to millions of individuals with reproductive division of labors. Due to the interests in disclosing the genetic and epigenetic regulation mechanisms underlying the distinct developmental trajectories between castes and division of labor in colonies, many ant species have recently been established as laboratory models for evolutionary development and social behavior studies. These functional studies often request a precise quantification of the relative gene expression level, which relies on a stably expressed reference genes for normalization. A core set of reliable reference genes for this purpose however has not been established yet in ants. In the present study, we tested the expression patterns and amplification efficiencies of 12 abundantly expressed candidate genes in Monomorium pharaonis, one of the few ant species that are suitable for laboratory rearing and experimentation. We quantified the expression levels of these genes by RT-qPCR in seven different conditions: embryo development, sexual development, worker development, adult phenotypes, tissues, and two abiotic manipulative treatments in pharaoh ant. Finally, five genes, elongation factor-1 alpha (EF1A), glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), TATA-box-binding protein (TATA), tubulin gamma-2 chain-like (TBLg2), heat shock protein 67B2-like (HSP67) were found to be the most stable reference genes across seven conditions. We also identified the most stable reference genes applicable for each distinct condition and the optimal number of reference genes entailed were evaluated. Our study validates reliable reference genes for RT-qPCR analysis which lays the foundation for future studies in pharaoh ant.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guo Ding
- Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China
| | - Qionghua Gao
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
- Guangxi Key Laboratory of Agric-Environment and Agric-Products Safety, College of Agriculture, Guangxi University, Nanning, China
| | - Jun Chen
- School of Life Sciences, Yunnan University, Kunming, China
| | - Jie Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
| | - Guojie Zhang
- Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China
- *Correspondence: Guojie Zhang,
| | - Weiwei Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
- Weiwei Liu,
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12
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Boudinot BE, Richter A, Katzke J, Chaul JCM, Keller RA, Economo EP, Beutel RG, Yamamoto S. Evidence for the evolution of eusociality in stem ants and a systematic revision of †Gerontoformica (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Zool J Linn Soc 2022. [DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlab097] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
It is generally assumed that Cretaceous stem ants were obligately eusocial, because of the presence of wingless adult females, yet the available evidence is ambiguous. Here, we report the syninclusion of a pupa and adult of a stem ant species from Mid-Cretaceous amber. As brood are immobile, the pupa was likely to have been transported by an adult. Therefore, the fossil substantiates the hypothesis that wingless females were cooperators, thus these were true ‘workers’. Re-examination of all described Cretaceous ant species reveals that winged–wingless diphenism – hence a variable dispersal capacity – may have been ancestral to the total clade of the ants, and that highly specialized worker-specific phenotypes evolved in parallel between the stem and crown groups. The soft-tissue preservation of the fossil is exceptional, demonstrating the possibility of analysing the development of the internal anatomy in stem ants. Based on the highest-resolution µ-CT scans of stem ants to date, we describe †Gerontoformica sternorhabda sp. nov., redescribe †G. gracilis, redefine the species group classification of †Gerontoformica, and provide a key to the species of the genus. Our work clarifies the species boundaries of †Gerontoformica and renders fossils relevant to the discussion of eusocial evolution in a way that has heretofore been intractable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brendon E Boudinot
- Institut für Zoologie und Evolutionsforschung, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Erberstraße 1, 07743 Jena, Germany
| | - Adrian Richter
- Institut für Zoologie und Evolutionsforschung, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Erberstraße 1, 07743 Jena, Germany
| | - Julian Katzke
- Biodiversity and Biocomplexity Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna, Japan
| | - Júlio C M Chaul
- Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Departamento de Biologia Geral, Universidade Federal do Viçosa, 36570-900, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Roberto A Keller
- Biodiversity and Biocomplexity Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna, Japan
- Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência & cE3c, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Evan P Economo
- Biodiversity and Biocomplexity Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna, Japan
| | - Rolf Georg Beutel
- Institut für Zoologie und Evolutionsforschung, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Erberstraße 1, 07743 Jena, Germany
| | - Shûhei Yamamoto
- Hokkaido University Museum, Hokkaido University, Kita 8, Nishi 5, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-0808, Japan
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13
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Bernadou A, Kramer BH, Korb J. Major Evolutionary Transitions in Social Insects, the Importance of Worker Sterility and Life History Trade-Offs. Front Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.732907] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The evolution of eusociality in social insects, such as termites, ants, and some bees and wasps, has been regarded as a major evolutionary transition (MET). Yet, there is some debate whether all species qualify. Here, we argue that worker sterility is a decisive criterion to determine whether species have passed a MET (= superorganisms), or not. When workers are sterile, reproductive interests align among group members as individual fitness is transferred to the colony level. Division of labour among cooperating units is a major driver that favours the evolution of METs across all biological scales. Many METs are characterised by a differentiation into reproductive versus maintenance functions. In social insects, the queen specialises on reproduction while workers take over maintenance functions such as food provisioning. Such division of labour allows specialisation and it reshapes life history trade-offs among cooperating units. For instance, individuals within colonies of social insects can overcome the omnipresent fecundity/longevity trade-off, which limits reproductive success in organisms, when increased fecundity shortens lifespan. Social insect queens (particularly in superorganismal species) can reach adult lifespans of several decades and are among the most fecund terrestrial animals. The resulting enormous reproductive output may contribute to explain why some genera of social insects became so successful. Indeed, superorganismal ant lineages have more species than those that have not passed a MET. We conclude that the release from life history constraints at the individual level is a important, yet understudied, factor across METs to explain their evolutionary success.
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14
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Duncan EJ, Leask MP, Dearden PK. Genome Architecture Facilitates Phenotypic Plasticity in the Honeybee (Apis mellifera). Mol Biol Evol 2021; 37:1964-1978. [PMID: 32134461 PMCID: PMC7306700 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msaa057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Phenotypic plasticity, the ability of an organism to alter its phenotype in response to an environmental cue, facilitates rapid adaptation to changing environments. Plastic changes in morphology and behavior are underpinned by widespread gene expression changes. However, it is unknown if, or how, genomes are structured to ensure these robust responses. Here, we use repression of honeybee worker ovaries as a model of plasticity. We show that the honeybee genome is structured with respect to plasticity; genes that respond to an environmental trigger are colocated in the honeybee genome in a series of gene clusters, many of which have been assembled in the last 80 My during the evolution of the Apidae. These clusters are marked by histone modifications that prefigure the gene expression changes that occur as the ovary activates, suggesting that these genomic regions are poised to respond plastically. That the linear sequence of the honeybee genome is organized to coordinate widespread gene expression changes in response to environmental influences and that the chromatin organization in these regions is prefigured to respond to these influences is perhaps unexpected and has implications for other examples of plasticity in physiology, evolution, and human disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth J Duncan
- Genomics Aotearoa and Biochemistry Department, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.,School of Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom
| | - Megan P Leask
- Genomics Aotearoa and Biochemistry Department, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Peter K Dearden
- Genomics Aotearoa and Biochemistry Department, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
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15
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Garcia Bulle Bueno F, Gloag R, Latty T, Ronai I. Irreversible sterility of workers and high-volume egg production by queens in the stingless bee Tetragonula carbonaria. J Exp Biol 2020; 223:jeb230599. [PMID: 32737215 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.230599] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2020] [Accepted: 07/27/2020] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Social insects are characterised by a reproductive division of labour between queens and workers. However, in the majority of social insect species, the workers are only facultatively sterile. The Australian stingless bee Tetragonula carbonaria is noteworthy as workers never lay eggs. Here, we describe the reproductive anatomy of Tcarbonaria workers, virgin queens and mated queens. We then conduct the first experimental test of absolute worker sterility in the social insects. Using a controlled microcolony environment, we investigate whether the reproductive capacity of adult workers can be rescued by manipulating the workers' social environment and diet. The ovaries of T. carbonaria workers that are queenless and fed unrestricted, highly nutritious royal jelly remain non-functional, indicating they are irreversibly sterile and that ovary degeneration is fixed prior to adulthood. We suggest that Tcarbonaria might have evolved absolute worker sterility because colonies are unlikely to ever be queenless.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francisco Garcia Bulle Bueno
- Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution Laboratory, School of Life and Environmental Sciences A12, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Rosalyn Gloag
- Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution Laboratory, School of Life and Environmental Sciences A12, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Tanya Latty
- Insect Behaviour and Ecology Laboratory, School of Life and Environmental Sciences A12, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Isobel Ronai
- Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution Laboratory, School of Life and Environmental Sciences A12, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
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16
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Nagel M, Qiu B, Brandenborg LE, Larsen RS, Ning D, Boomsma JJ, Zhang G. The gene expression network regulating queen brain remodeling after insemination and its parallel use in ants with reproductive workers. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2020; 6:6/38/eaaz5772. [PMID: 32938672 PMCID: PMC7494347 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aaz5772] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2019] [Accepted: 07/27/2020] [Indexed: 05/16/2023]
Abstract
Caste differentiation happens early in development to produce gynes as future colony germlines and workers as present colony soma. However, gynes need insemination to become functional queens, a transition that initiates reproductive role differentiation relative to unmated gynes. Here, we analyze the anatomy and transcriptomes of brains during this differentiation process within the reproductive caste of Monomorium pharaonis Insemination terminated brain growth, whereas unmated control gynes continued to increase brain volume. Transcriptomes revealed a specific gene regulatory network (GRN) mediating both brain anatomy changes and behavioral modifications. This reproductive role differentiation GRN hardly overlapped with the gyne-worker caste differentiation GRN, but appears to be also used by distantly related ants where workers became germline individuals after the queen caste was entirely or partially lost. The genes corazonin and neuroparsin A in the anterior neurosecretory cells were overexpressed in individuals with reduced or nonreproductive roles across all four ant species investigated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manuel Nagel
- Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, Universitetsparken 15, University of Copenhagen, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Bitao Qiu
- Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, Universitetsparken 15, University of Copenhagen, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
- Centre for Social Evolution, University of Copenhagen, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Lisa Eigil Brandenborg
- Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, Universitetsparken 15, University of Copenhagen, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Rasmus Stenbak Larsen
- Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, Universitetsparken 15, University of Copenhagen, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Dongdong Ning
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, China
| | - Jacobus Jan Boomsma
- Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, Universitetsparken 15, University of Copenhagen, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
- Centre for Social Evolution, University of Copenhagen, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Guojie Zhang
- Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, Universitetsparken 15, University of Copenhagen, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, China
- China National GeneBank, BGI-Shenzhen, Jinsha Road, Shenzhen 518083, China
- Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650223, China
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17
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Araki M, Miyakawa MO, Suzuki T, Miyakawa H. Two insulin‐like peptides may regulate egg production in opposite directions via juvenile hormone signaling in the queenless antPristomyrmex punctatus. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY PART B-MOLECULAR AND DEVELOPMENTAL EVOLUTION 2020; 334:225-234. [DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.22935] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2019] [Revised: 01/29/2020] [Accepted: 01/30/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Marina Araki
- Center for Bioscience Research and EducationUtsunomiya UniversityUtsunomiya Tochigi Japan
| | - Misato O. Miyakawa
- Center for Bioscience Research and EducationUtsunomiya UniversityUtsunomiya Tochigi Japan
| | - Tomohiro Suzuki
- Center for Bioscience Research and EducationUtsunomiya UniversityUtsunomiya Tochigi Japan
| | - Hitoshi Miyakawa
- Center for Bioscience Research and EducationUtsunomiya UniversityUtsunomiya Tochigi Japan
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18
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Van Eeckhoven J, Duncan EJ. Mating status and the evolution of eusociality: Oogenesis is independent of mating status in the solitary bee Osmia bicornis. JOURNAL OF INSECT PHYSIOLOGY 2020; 121:104003. [PMID: 31883996 DOI: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2019.104003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2019] [Revised: 12/13/2019] [Accepted: 12/23/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
The fundamental trait underlying eusociality is the reproductive division of labour. In honeybees (Apis mellifera), queens lay eggs while workers forage, defend and care for brood. The division of labour is maintained by pheromones including queen mandibular pheromone (QMP) produced by the queen. QMP constrains reproduction in adult honeybee workers, but in the absence of their queen workers can activate their ovaries and, although they cannot mate, they lay haploid male eggs. The reproductive ground plan hypothesis suggests that reproductive constraint may have evolved by co-opting mechanisms of reproductive control in solitary ancestors. In many insects mating is required to activate or accelerate oogenesis. Here, we use the solitary bee Osmia bicornis (Megachilidae) to test whether reproductive constraint evolved from ancestral control of reproduction by mating status. We present a structural study of the O. bicornis ovary, and compare key stages of oogenesis with honeybee workers. Importantly, we show that mating does not affect any aspect of the reproductive physiology of O. bicornis. We therefore conclude that mechanisms governing reproductive constraint in honeybees were unlikely to have been co-opted from mechanisms pertaining to mating status.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jens Van Eeckhoven
- Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, United Kingdom
| | - Elizabeth J Duncan
- Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, United Kingdom.
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19
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Warner MR, Qiu L, Holmes MJ, Mikheyev AS, Linksvayer TA. Convergent eusocial evolution is based on a shared reproductive groundplan plus lineage-specific plastic genes. Nat Commun 2019; 10:2651. [PMID: 31201311 PMCID: PMC6570765 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-10546-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/02/2019] [Accepted: 05/14/2019] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Eusociality has convergently evolved multiple times, but the genomic basis of caste-based division of labor and degree to which independent origins of eusociality have utilized common genes remain largely unknown. Here we characterize caste-specific transcriptomic profiles across development and adult body segments from pharaoh ants (Monomorium pharaonis) and honey bees (Apis mellifera), representing two independent origins of eusociality. We identify a substantial shared core of genes upregulated in the abdomens of queen ants and honey bees that also tends to be upregulated in mated female flies, suggesting that these genes are part of a conserved insect reproductive groundplan. Outside of this shared groundplan, few genes are differentially expressed in common. Instead, the majority of the thousands of caste-associated genes are plastically expressed, rapidly evolving, and relatively evolutionarily young. These results emphasize that the recruitment of both highly conserved and lineage-specific genes underlie the convergent evolution of novel traits such as eusociality. Eusocial caste systems have evolved independently multiple times. Here, Warner et al. investigate the amount of shared vs. lineage-specific genes involved in the evolution of caste in pharaoh ants and honey bees by comparing transcriptomes across tissues, developmental stages, and castes.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Lijun Qiu
- Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Okinawa, 904-0495, Japan
| | - Michael J Holmes
- Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Okinawa, 904-0495, Japan.,School of Life and Environmental Science, University of Sydney, Sydney, 2006, Australia
| | - Alexander S Mikheyev
- Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Okinawa, 904-0495, Japan.,Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, 0200, Australia
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20
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Ant nurse workers exhibit behavioural and transcriptomic signatures of specialization on larval stage. Anim Behav 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2018.05.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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21
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Schultner E, Oettler J, Helanterä H. The Role of Brood in Eusocial Hymenoptera. QUARTERLY REVIEW OF BIOLOGY 2018; 92:39-78. [PMID: 29558609 DOI: 10.1086/690840] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
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.
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22
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Pharaoh ant colonies dynamically regulate reproductive allocation based on colony demography. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-017-2430-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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23
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Olejarz J, Veller C, Nowak MA. The evolution of queen control over worker reproduction in the social Hymenoptera. Ecol Evol 2017; 7:8427-8441. [PMID: 29075460 PMCID: PMC5648666 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.3324] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2017] [Revised: 07/12/2017] [Accepted: 07/20/2017] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
A trademark of eusocial insect species is reproductive division of labor, in which workers forego their own reproduction while the queen produces almost all offspring. The presence of the queen is key for maintaining social harmony, but the specific role of the queen in the evolution of eusociality remains unclear. A long‐discussed scenario is that a queen either behaviorally or chemically sterilizes her workers. However, the demographic and ecological conditions that enable such manipulation are still debated. We study a simple model of evolutionary dynamics based on haplodiploid genetics. Our model is set in the commonly observed case where workers have lost the ability to lay female (diploid) eggs by mating, but retain the ability to lay male (haploid) eggs. We consider a mutation that acts in a queen, causing her to control the reproductive behavior of her workers. Our mathematical analysis yields precise conditions for the evolutionary emergence and stability of queen‐induced worker sterility. These conditions do not depend on the queen's mating frequency. We find that queen control is always established if it increases colony reproductive efficiency, but can evolve even if it decreases colony efficiency. We further derive the conditions under which queen control is evolutionarily stable against invasion by mutant workers who have recovered the ability to lay male eggs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason Olejarz
- Program for Evolutionary Dynamics Harvard University Cambridge MA USA
| | - Carl Veller
- Program for Evolutionary Dynamics Harvard University Cambridge MA USA.,Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Harvard University Cambridge MA USA
| | - Martin A Nowak
- Program for Evolutionary Dynamics Harvard University Cambridge MA USA.,Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Harvard University Cambridge MA USA.,Department of Mathematics Harvard University Cambridge MA USA
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24
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Lee CC, Nakao H, Tseng SP, Hsu HW, Lin GL, Tay JW, Billen J, Ito F, Lee CY, Lin CC, Yang CCS. Worker reproduction of the invasive yellow crazy ant Anoplolepis gracilipes. Front Zool 2017; 14:24. [PMID: 28503187 PMCID: PMC5422973 DOI: 10.1186/s12983-017-0210-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2017] [Accepted: 04/26/2017] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Reproductive division of labor is one of the key features of social insects. Queens are adapted for reproduction while workers are adapted for foraging and colony maintenance. In many species, however, workers retain functional ovaries and can lay unfertilized male eggs or trophic eggs. Here we report for the first time on the occurrence of physogastric workers and apparent worker reproduction in the invasive yellow crazy ant Anoplolepis gracilipes (Fr. Smith). We further examined the reproductive potential and nutritional role of physogastric workers through multidisciplinary approaches including morphological characterization, laboratory manipulation, genetic analysis and behavioral observation. Results Egg production with two types of eggs, namely reproductive and trophic eggs, by physogastric workers was found. The reproductive egg was confirmed to be haploid and male-destined, suggesting that the workers produced males via arrhenotokous parthenogenesis as no spermatheca was discovered. Detailed observations suggested that larvae were mainly fed with trophic eggs. Along with consumption of trophic eggs by queens and other castes as part of their diet, the vital role of physogastric workers as “trophic specialist” is confirmed. Conclusion We propose that adaptive advantages derived from worker reproduction for A. gracilipes may include 1) trophic eggs provisioned by physogastric workers likely assist colonies of A. gracilipes in overcoming unfavorable conditions such as paucity of food during critical founding stage; 2) worker-produced males are fertile and thus might offer an inclusive fitness advantage for the doomed orphaned colony. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12983-017-0210-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ching-Chen Lee
- Department of Biology, National Changhua University of Education, No. 1, Jin-De Rd., Changhua, 50007 Taiwan.,Master Program for Plant Medicine, National Taiwan University, No.1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Rd., Taipei, Taiwan 106
| | - Hirotaka Nakao
- Faculty of Agriculture, Kagawa University, Ikenobe, Miki, 761-0795 Japan
| | - Shu-Ping Tseng
- Department of Entomology, National Taiwan University, No.1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Rd., Taipei, Taiwan 106.,Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Kyoto University, Gokasho, Uji, Kyoto, 611-0011 Japan
| | - Hung-Wei Hsu
- Department of Entomology, National Taiwan University, No.1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Rd., Taipei, Taiwan 106
| | - Gwo-Li Lin
- Department of Entomology, National Taiwan University, No.1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Rd., Taipei, Taiwan 106
| | - Jia-Wei Tay
- Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521 USA
| | - Johan Billen
- K.U. Leuven, Zoological Institute, Naamsestraat 59, box 2466, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Fuminori Ito
- Faculty of Agriculture, Kagawa University, Ikenobe, Miki, 761-0795 Japan
| | - Chow-Yang Lee
- Urban Entomology Laboratory, Vector Control Research Unit, School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, Malaysia
| | - Chung-Chi Lin
- Department of Biology, National Changhua University of Education, No. 1, Jin-De Rd., Changhua, 50007 Taiwan
| | - Chin-Cheng Scotty Yang
- Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Kyoto University, Gokasho, Uji, Kyoto, 611-0011 Japan
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25
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Gotoh A, Billen J, Hashim R, Ito F. Degeneration patterns of the worker spermatheca during morphogenesis in ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Evol Dev 2016; 18:96-104. [PMID: 26994860 DOI: 10.1111/ede.12182] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Reproductive division of labor is one of the crucial features in social insects, however, the developmental mechanisms leading to modifications in the reproductive apparatus of workers are still not very clear. Ants show a remarkable diversity in the morphological specialization of the worker's reproductive apparatus, that allows to distinguish four types, type 1: workers that have ovaries and a functional spermatheca, and that reproduce like queens, type 2: workers have ovaries and a vestigial spermatheca, type 3: workers have ovaries but no spermatheca, and type 4: workers lost both ovaries and spermatheca. We investigated morphogenesis of the worker spermatheca in 28 ant species by histological examination. In workers of type 1, the morphogenesis of the spermatheca is very similar to that in ant queens. In type 2, the spermathecal disc also differentiates, however, the development is interrupted and remains vestigial. In types 3 and 4, the absence of the spermatheca in the adult phase is caused by a degeneration after initial formation of the spermathecal disc or by a complete lack of the spermathecal discs. The timing of these interruption and degeneration events varies among species. The species exhibiting an earlier interrupting point of spermatheca formation in workers have a larger queen-worker dimorphism, that seems to be independent from ant phylogeny.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ayako Gotoh
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science and Engineering and Institute for Integrative Neurobiology, Konan University, 8-9-1 Okamoto, Higashinada-ku, Kobe, 658-8501, Japan
| | - Johan Billen
- Zoological Institute, KU Leuven, Naamsestraat 59, B-3000, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Rosli Hashim
- Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, 50603, Malaysia
| | - Fuminori Ito
- Faculty of Agriculture, Kagawa University, Ikenobe, Miki, 761-0795, Japan
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26
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Duncan EJ, Hyink O, Dearden PK. Notch signalling mediates reproductive constraint in the adult worker honeybee. Nat Commun 2016; 7:12427. [PMID: 27485026 PMCID: PMC4976197 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms12427] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2016] [Accepted: 06/30/2016] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
The hallmark of eusociality is the reproductive division of labour, in which one female caste reproduces, while reproduction is constrained in the subordinate caste. In adult worker honeybees (Apis mellifera) reproductive constraint is conditional: in the absence of the queen and brood, adult worker honeybees activate their ovaries and lay haploid male eggs. Here, we demonstrate that chemical inhibition of Notch signalling can overcome the repressive effect of queen pheromone and promote ovary activity in adult worker honeybees. We show that Notch signalling acts on the earliest stages of oogenesis and that the removal of the queen corresponds with a loss of Notch protein in the germarium. We conclude that the ancient and pleiotropic Notch signalling pathway has been co-opted into constraining reproduction in worker honeybees and we provide the first molecular mechanism directly linking ovary activity in adult worker bees with the presence of the queen. In honeybees, pheromones produced by the queen inhibit reproduction by workers and enforce a eusocial division of labour. Here, Duncan, Hyink and Dearden show that this inhibition is mediated by the Notch signalling pathway in the workers' ovaries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth J Duncan
- Department of Biochemistry, Laboratory for Evolution and Development, Genetics Otago and Gravida (The National Centre for Growth and Development), University of Otago, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin 9054, Aotearoa-New Zealand
| | - Otto Hyink
- Department of Biochemistry, Laboratory for Evolution and Development, Genetics Otago and Gravida (The National Centre for Growth and Development), University of Otago, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin 9054, Aotearoa-New Zealand
| | - Peter K Dearden
- Department of Biochemistry, Laboratory for Evolution and Development, Genetics Otago and Gravida (The National Centre for Growth and Development), University of Otago, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin 9054, Aotearoa-New Zealand
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27
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Toubiana W, Khila A. The benefits of expanding studies of trait exaggeration to hemimetabolous insects and beyond morphology. Curr Opin Genet Dev 2016; 39:14-20. [PMID: 27318690 DOI: 10.1016/j.gde.2016.05.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2016] [Revised: 05/20/2016] [Accepted: 05/26/2016] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Trait exaggeration, well known to naturalists and evolutionary biologists, has recently become a prominent research subject in the modern field of Evolutionary Developmental Biology. A large number of traits that can be considered as cases of exaggeration exist in nature. Yet, the field has almost exclusively focused on the study of growth-related exaggerated traits in a selection of holometabolous insects. The absence of the hemimetabola from studies of exaggeration leaves a significant gap in our understanding of the development and evolution of such traits. Here we argue that efforts to understand the mechanisms of trait exaggeration would benefit from expanding the study subjects to include other kinds of exaggeration and other model species.
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Affiliation(s)
- William Toubiana
- Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle de Lyon, ENS de Lyon - CNRS UMR 5242 - Université Claude Bernard Lyon-1, 46 allée d'Italie, 69364 Lyon Cedex 07, France
| | - Abderrahman Khila
- Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle de Lyon, ENS de Lyon - CNRS UMR 5242 - Université Claude Bernard Lyon-1, 46 allée d'Italie, 69364 Lyon Cedex 07, France.
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28
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Comparative Transcriptomics of Alternative Developmental Phenotypes in a Marine Gastropod. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY PART B-MOLECULAR AND DEVELOPMENTAL EVOLUTION 2016; 326:151-67. [DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.22674] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2015] [Revised: 04/08/2016] [Accepted: 04/11/2016] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
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29
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Doebeli M, Abouheif E. Modeling evolutionary transitions in social insects. eLife 2016; 5:e12721. [PMID: 26780668 PMCID: PMC4744194 DOI: 10.7554/elife.12721] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2015] [Accepted: 11/25/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Mathematical models based on direct fitness calculations may be able to explain important aspects of social evolution in insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Doebeli
- Department of Zoology and Department of Mathematics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Ehab Abouheif
- Department of Biology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
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30
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Ronai I, Vergoz V, Oldroyd B. The Mechanistic, Genetic, and Evolutionary Basis of Worker Sterility in the Social Hymenoptera. ADVANCES IN THE STUDY OF BEHAVIOR 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/bs.asb.2016.03.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
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31
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Miyakawa MO, Mikheyev AS. Males are here to stay: fertilization enhances viable egg production by clonal queens of the little fire ant (Wasmannia auropunctata). Naturwissenschaften 2015; 102:15. [PMID: 25801787 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-015-1265-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2014] [Revised: 03/06/2015] [Accepted: 03/06/2015] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
Evolution of reproduction strategies is affected by both phylogenetic and physiological constraints. Although clonality may benefit females, it may not be selected if a male contribution is necessary to start egg laying and embryo development. In little fire ant, Wasmannia auropunctata, sexual populations employ a typical Hymenopteran system of reproduction. In clonal populations, however, queens and males are produced with only maternal and paternal genomes, respectively, whereas sterile workers are produced sexually. Although this system requires both sexes for worker production, previous work has shown that workers may also be produced clonally by the queens. If so, why are males maintained in this species? Our data suggest that fertilization is necessary to increase the hatching rate of eggs. Although clonal queens can indeed produce both workers and queens without mating, the hatching rate is far below the level necessary to maintain functional colonies. On the other hand, virgin queens from populations exhibiting the original Hymenopteran reproduction system also show low hatching rates, but produce only haploid male eggs. Reasons for the existence of W. auropunctata males have been disputed. However, our data suggest that physiological constraints, such as the requirement for insemination, must be considered in regard to evolution of reproduction systems, in addition to ecological data and theoretical considerations of fitness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Misato O Miyakawa
- Ecology and Evolution Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Okinawa, 904-0495, Japan,
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32
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Green JE, Akam M. Germ cells of the centipede Strigamia maritima are specified early in embryonic development. Dev Biol 2014; 392:419-30. [PMID: 24930702 PMCID: PMC4111900 DOI: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2014.06.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2014] [Revised: 06/02/2014] [Accepted: 06/04/2014] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
We provide the first systematic description of germ cell development with molecular markers in a myriapod, the centipede Strigamia maritima. By examining the expression of Strigamia vasa and nanos orthologues, we find that the primordial germ cells are specified from at least the blastoderm stage. This is a much earlier embryonic stage than previously described for centipedes, or any other member of the Myriapoda. Using these genes as markers, and taking advantage of the developmental synchrony of Strigamia embryos within single clutches, we are able to track the development of the germ cells throughout embryogenesis. We find that the germ cells accumulate at the blastopore; that the cells do not internalize through the hindgut, but rather through the closing blastopore; and that the cells undergo a long-range migration to the embryonic gonad. This is the first evidence for primordial germ cells displaying these behaviours in any myriapod. The myriapods are a phylogenetically important group in the arthropod radiation for which relatively little developmental data is currently available. Our study provides valuable comparative data that complements the growing number of studies in insects, crustaceans and chelicerates, and is important for the correct reconstruction of ancestral states and a fuller understanding of how germ cell development has evolved in different arthropod lineages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jack E Green
- Laboratory for Development and Evolution, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, UK.
| | - Michael Akam
- Laboratory for Development and Evolution, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, UK
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33
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Corona M, Libbrecht R, Wurm Y, Riba-Grognuz O, Studer RA, Keller L. Vitellogenin underwent subfunctionalization to acquire caste and behavioral specific expression in the harvester ant Pogonomyrmex barbatus. PLoS Genet 2013; 9:e1003730. [PMID: 23966882 PMCID: PMC3744404 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1003730] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2013] [Accepted: 07/03/2013] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The reproductive ground plan hypothesis (RGPH) proposes that the physiological pathways regulating reproduction were co-opted to regulate worker division of labor. Support for this hypothesis in honeybees is provided by studies demonstrating that the reproductive potential of workers, assessed by the levels of vitellogenin (Vg), is linked to task performance. Interestingly, contrary to honeybees that have a single Vg ortholog and potentially fertile nurses, the genome of the harvester ant Pogonomyrmex barbatus harbors two Vg genes (Pb_Vg1 and Pb_Vg2) and nurses produce infertile trophic eggs. P. barbatus, thus, provides a unique model to investigate whether Vg duplication in ants was followed by subfunctionalization to acquire reproductive and non-reproductive functions and whether Vg reproductive function was co-opted to regulate behavior in sterile workers. To investigate these questions, we compared the expression patterns of P. barbatus Vg genes and analyzed the phylogenetic relationships and molecular evolution of Vg genes in ants. qRT-PCRs revealed that Pb_Vg1 is more highly expressed in queens compared to workers and in nurses compared to foragers. By contrast, the level of expression of Pb_Vg2 was higher in foragers than in nurses and queens. Phylogenetic analyses show that a first duplication of the ancestral Vg gene occurred after the divergence between the poneroid and formicoid clades and subsequent duplications occurred in the lineages leading to Solenopsis invicta, Linepithema humile and Acromyrmex echinatior. The initial duplication resulted in two Vg gene subfamilies preferentially expressed in queens and nurses (subfamily A) or in foraging workers (subfamily B). Finally, molecular evolution analyses show that the subfamily A experienced positive selection, while the subfamily B showed overall relaxation of purifying selection. Our results suggest that in P. barbatus the Vg gene underwent subfunctionalization after duplication to acquire caste- and behavior- specific expression associated with reproductive and non-reproductive functions, supporting the validity of the RGPH in ants. One of the main features of social insects is the division of labor, whereby queens monopolize reproduction while sterile workers perform all of the tasks related to colony maintenance. The workers usually do so in an age-dependent sequence: young workers tend to nurse the brood inside the nest and older workers are more likely to forage for food. Previous studies revealed that vitellogenin, a yolk protein typically involved in the regulation of reproduction in solitary insects, has been co-opted to regulate division of labor in the honeybee. In this study, we investigate such a role of vitellogenin in another group of social insects: the ants. We first use phylogenetic analyses to reveal the existence of multiple vitellogenin genes in most of the sequenced ant genomes. Then we compare the expression of the two vitellogenin genes (Pb_Vg1 and Pb_Vg2) among queens, nurses and foragers in the seed-harvester ant Pogonomyrmex barbatus. Our results suggest that, after the initial duplication in ants, the vitellogenin genes acquired caste and behavioral specific expression associated with reproductive and non-reproductive nutritionally related functions. This study also shows that ants and bees, despite having evolved sociality independently, have conserved similar mechanisms to regulate division of labor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miguel Corona
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
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Carter JM, Baker SC, Pink R, Carter DRF, Collins A, Tomlin J, Gibbs M, Breuker CJ. Unscrambling butterfly oogenesis. BMC Genomics 2013; 14:283. [PMID: 23622113 PMCID: PMC3654919 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2164-14-283] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2013] [Accepted: 04/05/2013] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Butterflies are popular model organisms to study physiological mechanisms
underlying variability in oogenesis and egg provisioning in response to
environmental conditions. Nothing is known, however, about; the
developmental mechanisms governing butterfly oogenesis, how polarity in the
oocyte is established, or which particular maternal effect genes regulate
early embryogenesis. To gain insights into these developmental mechanisms
and to identify the conserved and divergent aspects of butterfly oogenesis,
we analysed a de novo ovarian transcriptome of the Speckled Wood
butterfly Pararge aegeria (L.), and compared the results with known
model organisms such as Drosophila melanogaster and Bombyx
mori. Results A total of 17306 contigs were annotated, with 30% possibly novel or highly
divergent sequences observed. Pararge aegeria females expressed
74.5% of the genes that are known to be essential for D.
melanogaster oogenesis. We discuss the genes involved in all
aspects of oogenesis, including vitellogenesis and choriogenesis, plus those
implicated in hormonal control of oogenesis and transgenerational hormonal
effects in great detail. Compared to other insects, a number of significant
differences were observed in; the genes involved in stem cell maintenance
and differentiation in the germarium, establishment of oocyte polarity, and
in several aspects of maternal regulation of zygotic development. Conclusions This study provides valuable resources to investigate a number of divergent
aspects of butterfly oogenesis requiring further research. In order to fully
unscramble butterfly oogenesis, we also now also have the resources to
investigate expression patterns of oogenesis genes under a range of
environmental conditions, and to establish their function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jean-Michel Carter
- Evolutionary Developmental Biology Research Group, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy Lane, Headington, Oxford, OX3 0BP, UK
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Ewen-Campen B, Jones TEM, Extavour CG. Evidence against a germ plasm in the milkweed bug Oncopeltus fasciatus, a hemimetabolous insect. Biol Open 2013; 2:556-68. [PMID: 23789106 PMCID: PMC3683158 DOI: 10.1242/bio.20134390] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2013] [Accepted: 03/01/2013] [Indexed: 01/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Primordial germ cell (PGC) formation in holometabolous insects like Drosophila melanogaster relies on maternally synthesised germ cell determinants that are asymmetrically localised to the oocyte posterior cortex. Embryonic nuclei that inherit this "germ plasm" acquire PGC fate. In contrast, historical studies of basally branching insects (Hemimetabola) suggest that a maternal requirement for germ line genes in PGC specification may be a derived character confined principally to Holometabola. However, there have been remarkably few investigations of germ line gene expression and function in hemimetabolous insects. Here we characterise PGC formation in the milkweed bug Oncopeltus fasciatus, a member of the sister group to Holometabola, thus providing an important evolutionary comparison to members of this clade. We examine the transcript distribution of orthologues of 19 Drosophila germ cell and/or germ plasm marker genes, and show that none of them localise asymmetrically within Oncopeltus oocytes or early embryos. Using multiple molecular and cytological criteria, we provide evidence that PGCs form after cellularisation at the site of gastrulation. Functional studies of vasa and tudor reveal that these genes are not required for germ cell formation, but that vasa is required in adult males for spermatogenesis. Taken together, our results provide evidence that Oncopeltus germ cells may form in the absence of germ plasm, consistent with the hypothesis that germ plasm is a derived strategy of germ cell specification in insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ben Ewen-Campen
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University , 16 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138 , USA
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Huang MH, Wheeler DE, Fjerdingstad EJ. Mating system evolution and worker caste diversity in Pheidole ants. Mol Ecol 2013; 22:1998-2010. [PMID: 23379584 DOI: 10.1111/mec.12218] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2011] [Revised: 12/14/2012] [Accepted: 12/18/2012] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
The efficiency of social groups is generally optimized by a division of labour, achieved through behavioural or morphological diversity of members. In social insects, colonies may increase the morphological diversity of workers by recruiting standing genetic variance for size and shape via multiply mated queens (polyandry) or multiple-breeding queens (polygyny). However, greater worker diversity in multi-lineage species may also have evolved due to mutual worker policing if there is worker reproduction. Such policing reduces the pressure on workers to maintain reproductive morphologies, allowing the evolution of greater developmental plasticity and the maintenance of more genetic variance for worker size and shape in populations. Pheidole ants vary greatly in the diversity of worker castes. Also, their workers lack ovaries and are thus invariably sterile regardless of the queen mating frequency and numbers of queens per colony. This allowed us to perform an across-species study examining the genetic effects of recruiting more patrilines on the developmental diversity of workers in the absence of confounding effects from worker policing. Using highly variable microsatellite markers, we found that the effective mating frequency of the soldier-polymorphic P. rhea (avg. meN = 2.65) was significantly higher than that of the dimorphic P. spadonia (avg. meN = 1.06), despite a significant paternity skew in P. rhea (avg. B = 0.10). Our findings support the idea that mating strategies of queens may co-evolve with selection to increase the diversity of workers. We also detected patriline bias in the production of different worker sizes, which provides direct evidence for a genetic component to worker polymorphism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ming H Huang
- Department of Entomology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721-0036, USA.
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Ewen-Campen B, Srouji J, Schwager E, Extavour C. oskar Predates the Evolution of Germ Plasm in Insects. Curr Biol 2012; 22:2278-83. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2012.10.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2012] [Revised: 09/16/2012] [Accepted: 10/09/2012] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
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Linksvayer TA, Fewell JH, Gadau J, Laubichler MD. Developmental evolution in social insects: regulatory networks from genes to societies. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY PART B-MOLECULAR AND DEVELOPMENTAL EVOLUTION 2012; 318:159-69. [PMID: 22544713 DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.22001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
The evolution and development of complex phenotypes in social insect colonies, such as queen-worker dimorphism or division of labor, can, in our opinion, only be fully understood within an expanded mechanistic framework of Developmental Evolution. Conversely, social insects offer a fertile research area in which fundamental questions of Developmental Evolution can be addressed empirically. We review the concept of gene regulatory networks (GRNs) that aims to fully describe the battery of interacting genomic modules that are differentially expressed during the development of individual organisms. We discuss how distinct types of network models have been used to study different levels of biological organization in social insects, from GRNs to social networks. We propose that these hierarchical networks spanning different organizational levels from genes to societies should be integrated and incorporated into full GRN models to elucidate the evolutionary and developmental mechanisms underlying social insect phenotypes. Finally, we discuss prospects and approaches to achieve such an integration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timothy A Linksvayer
- Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
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Lynch JA, Ozüak O, Khila A, Abouheif E, Desplan C, Roth S. The phylogenetic origin of oskar coincided with the origin of maternally provisioned germ plasm and pole cells at the base of the Holometabola. PLoS Genet 2011; 7:e1002029. [PMID: 21552321 PMCID: PMC3084197 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1002029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2010] [Accepted: 02/02/2011] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The establishment of the germline is a critical, yet surprisingly evolutionarily labile, event in the development of sexually reproducing animals. In the fly Drosophila, germ cells acquire their fate early during development through the inheritance of the germ plasm, a specialized maternal cytoplasm localized at the posterior pole of the oocyte. The gene oskar (osk) is both necessary and sufficient for assembling this substance. Both maternal germ plasm and oskar are evolutionary novelties within the insects, as the germline is specified by zygotic induction in basally branching insects, and osk has until now only been detected in dipterans. In order to understand the origin of these evolutionary novelties, we used comparative genomics, parental RNAi, and gene expression analyses in multiple insect species. We have found that the origin of osk and its role in specifying the germline coincided with the innovation of maternal germ plasm and pole cells at the base of the holometabolous insects and that losses of osk are correlated with changes in germline determination strategies within the Holometabola. Our results indicate that the invention of the novel gene osk was a key innovation that allowed the transition from the ancestral late zygotic mode of germline induction to a maternally controlled establishment of the germline found in many holometabolous insect species. We propose that the ancestral role of osk was to connect an upstream network ancestrally involved in mRNA localization and translational control to a downstream regulatory network ancestrally involved in executing the germ cell program.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeremy A Lynch
- Institute for Developmental Biology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
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Yang AS, Abouheif E. Gynandromorphs as indicators of modularity and evolvability in ants. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY PART B-MOLECULAR AND DEVELOPMENTAL EVOLUTION 2011; 316:313-8. [DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.21407] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2010] [Revised: 10/27/2010] [Accepted: 02/07/2011] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
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Abstract
We report the draft genome sequence of the red harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex barbatus. The genome was sequenced using 454 pyrosequencing, and the current assembly and annotation were completed in less than 1 y. Analyses of conserved gene groups (more than 1,200 manually annotated genes to date) suggest a high-quality assembly and annotation comparable to recently sequenced insect genomes using Sanger sequencing. The red harvester ant is a model for studying reproductive division of labor, phenotypic plasticity, and sociogenomics. Although the genome of P. barbatus is similar to other sequenced hymenopterans (Apis mellifera and Nasonia vitripennis) in GC content and compositional organization, and possesses a complete CpG methylation toolkit, its predicted genomic CpG content differs markedly from the other hymenopterans. Gene networks involved in generating key differences between the queen and worker castes (e.g., wings and ovaries) show signatures of increased methylation and suggest that ants and bees may have independently co-opted the same gene regulatory mechanisms for reproductive division of labor. Gene family expansions (e.g., 344 functional odorant receptors) and pseudogene accumulation in chemoreception and P450 genes compared with A. mellifera and N. vitripennis are consistent with major life-history changes during the adaptive radiation of Pogonomyrmex spp., perhaps in parallel with the development of the North American deserts.
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Draft genome of the globally widespread and invasive Argentine ant (Linepithema humile). Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2011; 108:5673-8. [PMID: 21282631 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1008617108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 224] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Ants are some of the most abundant and familiar animals on Earth, and they play vital roles in most terrestrial ecosystems. Although all ants are eusocial, and display a variety of complex and fascinating behaviors, few genomic resources exist for them. Here, we report the draft genome sequence of a particularly widespread and well-studied species, the invasive Argentine ant (Linepithema humile), which was accomplished using a combination of 454 (Roche) and Illumina sequencing and community-based funding rather than federal grant support. Manual annotation of >1,000 genes from a variety of different gene families and functional classes reveals unique features of the Argentine ant's biology, as well as similarities to Apis mellifera and Nasonia vitripennis. Distinctive features of the Argentine ant genome include remarkable expansions of gustatory (116 genes) and odorant receptors (367 genes), an abundance of cytochrome P450 genes (>110), lineage-specific expansions of yellow/major royal jelly proteins and desaturases, and complete CpG DNA methylation and RNAi toolkits. The Argentine ant genome contains fewer immune genes than Drosophila and Tribolium, which may reflect the prominent role played by behavioral and chemical suppression of pathogens. Analysis of the ratio of observed to expected CpG nucleotides for genes in the reproductive development and apoptosis pathways suggests higher levels of methylation than in the genome overall. The resources provided by this genome sequence will offer an abundance of tools for researchers seeking to illuminate the fascinating biology of this emerging model organism.
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Nowak MA, Tarnita CE, Wilson EO. The evolution of eusociality. Nature 2010; 466:1057-62. [PMID: 20740005 DOI: 10.1038/nature09205] [Citation(s) in RCA: 529] [Impact Index Per Article: 37.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2010] [Accepted: 05/26/2010] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Eusociality, in which some individuals reduce their own lifetime reproductive potential to raise the offspring of others, underlies the most advanced forms of social organization and the ecologically dominant role of social insects and humans. For the past four decades kin selection theory, based on the concept of inclusive fitness, has been the major theoretical attempt to explain the evolution of eusociality. Here we show the limitations of this approach. We argue that standard natural selection theory in the context of precise models of population structure represents a simpler and superior approach, allows the evaluation of multiple competing hypotheses, and provides an exact framework for interpreting empirical observations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin A Nowak
- Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, Department of Mathematics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
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Fusco G, Minelli A. Phenotypic plasticity in development and evolution: facts and concepts. Introduction. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2010; 365:547-56. [PMID: 20083631 PMCID: PMC2817147 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2009.0267] [Citation(s) in RCA: 242] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
This theme issue pursues an exploration of the potential of taking into account the environmental sensitivity of development to explaining the evolution of metazoan life cycles, with special focus on complex life cycles and the role of developmental plasticity. The evolution of switches between alternative phenotypes as a response to different environmental cues and the evolution of the control of the temporal expression of alternative phenotypes within an organism's life cycle are here treated together as different dimensions of the complex relationships between genotype and phenotype, fostering the emergence of a more general and comprehensive picture of phenotypic evolution through a quite diverse sample of case studies. This introductory article reviews fundamental facts and concepts about phenotypic plasticity, adopting the most authoritative terminology in use in the current literature. The main topics are types and components of phenotypic variation, the evolution of organismal traits through plasticity, the origin and evolution of phenotypic plasticity and its adaptive value.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giuseppe Fusco
- Department of Biology, University of Padova, Via U. Bassi 58/B, I-35131 Padova, Italy.
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