scholarly journals Vitellogenin and vitellogenin-like gene expression patterns in relation to caste and task in the ant Formica fusca

2019 ◽  
Vol 66 (4) ◽  
pp. 519-531 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Morandin ◽  
A. Hietala ◽  
H. Helanterä
Keyword(s):  
Life Histories ◽  
Social Insect ◽  
Social Evolution ◽  
Expression Patterns ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Caste Differentiation ◽  
Social Functions ◽  
Formica Fusca

Abstract Social insect colonies are characterized by division of labour, and extensive morphological, physiological and behavioural differences between queens and workers. The storage protein vitellogenin (Vg) affects multiple aspects of social insect life histories, and has been suggested as a key player for caste differentiation and maintenance. Recently, three genes homologous to Vg have been described in the ant Formica exsecta. Their role is currently unclear but their structural variation suggests variable functions. We examined the expression patterns of the conventional Vg and the three Vg-like genes using qRT-PCR in the common black ant Formica fusca between queens and workers, between nurse and foragers workers, and across social contexts (queenless vs. queenright nests), and sampling time. As expected, we found a significant queen caste and nurse task-related increase for the conventional Vg, while Vg-like-C displayed a consistent forager-biased expression pattern. Task (forager vs. nurse) was the only factor that explained expression variation among workers in any of the studied genes. The removal of the queen did not affect expression, although the proportion of fertile nurses increased in queenless nests. The observed expression biases suggest that in Formica fusca, the ancestral duplication has led to alternative social functions for Vg-like genes across castes and tasks. To get a broader picture of the role of gene duplications in social evolution and the roles of Vg-like genes in caste differentiation and maintenance, how these genes achieve these roles at a molecular level need to be investigated further.

scholarly journals The value of oviposition timing, queen presence and kinship in a social insect

2013 ◽  
Vol 280 (1766) ◽  
pp. 20131231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martina Ozan ◽  
Heikki Helanterä ◽  
Liselotte Sundström
Keyword(s):  
Social Insect ◽  
Breeding Phenology ◽  
Reproductive Competition ◽  
Formica Fusca ◽  
Indirect Fitness ◽  
Fitness Benefits ◽  
Reproductive Conflicts

Reproductive cooperation confers benefits, but simultaneously creates conflicts among cooperators. Queens in multi-queen colonies of ants share a nest and its resources, but reproductive competition among queens often results in unequal reproduction. Two mutually non-exclusive factors may produce such inequality in reproduction: worker intervention or queen traits. Workers may intervene by favouring some queens over others, owing to either kinship or queen signals. Queens may differ in their intrinsic fecundity at the onset of oviposition or in their timing of the onset of oviposition, leading to their unequal representation in the brood. Here, we test the role of queen kin value (relatedness) to workers, timing of the onset of oviposition and signals of presence by queens in determining the maternity of offspring. We show that queens of the ant Formica fusca gained a significantly higher proportion of sexuals in the brood when ovipositing early, and that the presence of a caged queen resulted in a significant increase in both her share of sexual brood and her overall reproductive share. Moreover, the lower the kin value of the queen, the more the workers invested in their own reproduction by producing males. Our results show that both kinship and breeding phenology influence the outcome of reproductive conflicts, and the balance of direct and indirect fitness benefits in the multi-queen colonies of F. fusca .

scholarly journals Evaluating the role of reproductive constraints in ant social evolution

2010 ◽  
Vol 365 (1540) ◽  
pp. 617-630 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abderrahman Khila ◽  
Ehab Abouheif
Keyword(s):  
Germ Cell ◽  
Social Evolution ◽  
Alternative Hypothesis ◽  
Reproductive Organs ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
Cell Development ◽  
Germ Cell Development ◽  
Evolutionary Forces ◽  
Selection Framework

The reproductive division of labour is a key feature of eusociality in ants, where queen and worker castes show dramatic differences in the development of their reproductive organs. To understand the developmental and genetic basis underlying this division of labour, we performed a molecular analysis of ovary function and germ cell development in queens and workers. We show that the processes of ovarian development in queens have been highly conserved relative to the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster . We also identify specific steps during oogenesis and embryogenesis in which ovarian and germ cell development have been evolutionarily modified in the workers. These modifications, which we call ‘reproductive constraints’, are often assumed to represent neutral degenerations that are a consequence of social evolutionary forces. Based on our developmental and functional analysis of these constraints, however, we propose and discuss the alternative hypothesis that reproductive constraints represent adaptive proximate mechanisms or traits for maintaining social harmony in ants. We apply a multi-level selection framework to help understand the role of these constraints in ant social evolution. A complete understanding of how cooperation, conflict and developmental systems evolve in social groups requires a ‘socio-evo-devo’ approach that integrates social evolutionary and developmental biology.

scholarly journals Longevity and transposon defense, the case of termite reproductives

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (21) ◽  
pp. 5504-5509 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Elsner ◽  
Karen Meusemann ◽  
Judith Korb
Keyword(s):  
Social Insect ◽  
Social Evolution ◽  
Expression Patterns ◽  
Gene Expression Patterns ◽  
Aging Research ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Theory Of Aging ◽  
Macrotermes Bellicosus ◽  
Long Life ◽  
Pirna Pathway

Social insects are promising new models in aging research. Within single colonies, longevity differences of several magnitudes exist that can be found elsewhere only between different species. Reproducing queens (and, in termites, also kings) can live for several decades, whereas sterile workers often have a lifespan of a few weeks only. We studied aging in the wild in a highly social insect, the termite Macrotermes bellicosus, which has one of the most pronounced longevity differences between reproductives and workers. We show that gene-expression patterns differed little between young and old reproductives, implying negligible aging. By contrast, old major workers had many genes up-regulated that are related to transposable elements (TEs), which can cause aging. Strikingly, genes from the PIWI-interacting RNA (piRNA) pathway, which are generally known to silence TEs in the germline of multicellular animals, were down-regulated only in old major workers but not in reproductives. Continued up-regulation of the piRNA defense commonly found in the germline of animals can explain the long life of termite reproductives, implying somatic cooption of germline defense during social evolution. This presents a striking germline/soma analogy as envisioned by the superorganism concept: the reproductives and workers of a colony reflect the germline and soma of multicellular animals, respectively. Our results provide support for the disposable soma theory of aging.

scholarly journals Comparative transcriptomic analysis of the mechanisms underpinning ageing and fecundity in social insects

2021 ◽  
Vol 376 (1823) ◽  
pp. 20190728 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Korb ◽  
Karen Meusemann ◽  
Denise Aumer ◽  
Abel Bernadou ◽  
Daniel Elsner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Insects ◽  
Social Insect ◽  
Royal Jelly ◽  
Target Genes ◽  
Expression Patterns ◽  
Theme Issue ◽  
High Fecundity ◽  
Immune Genes ◽  
Comparative Transcriptomic Analysis

The exceptional longevity of social insect queens despite their lifelong high fecundity remains poorly understood in ageing biology. To gain insights into the mechanisms that might underlie ageing in social insects, we compared gene expression patterns between young and old castes (both queens and workers) across different lineages of social insects (two termite, two bee and two ant species). After global analyses, we paid particular attention to genes of the insulin/insulin-like growth factor 1 signalling (IIS)/target of rapamycin (TOR)/juvenile hormone (JH) network, which is well known to regulate lifespan and the trade-off between reproduction and somatic maintenance in solitary insects. Our results reveal a major role of the downstream components and target genes of this network (e.g. JH signalling, vitellogenins, major royal jelly proteins and immune genes) in affecting ageing and the caste-specific physiology of social insects, but an apparently lesser role of the upstream IIS/TOR signalling components. Together with a growing appreciation of the importance of such downstream targets, this leads us to propose the TI–J–LiFe ( T OR/ I IS– J H– Li fespan and Fe cundity) network as a conceptual framework for understanding the mechanisms of ageing and fecundity in social insects and beyond. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Ageing and sociality: why, when and how does sociality change ageing patterns?’

Track 2.a Introduction

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sucharita BENIWAL ◽  
Sahil MATHUR ◽  
Lesley-Ann NOEL ◽  
Cilla PEMBERTON ◽  
Suchitra BALASUBRAHMANYAN ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Local Knowledge ◽  
Ways Of Knowing ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Knowledge Systems ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Native Communities ◽  
Cultural Systems ◽  
Local Practices

The aim of this track was to question the divide between the nature of knowledge understood as experiential in indigenous contexts and science as an objective transferable knowledge. However, these can co-exist and inform design practices within transforming social contexts. The track aimed to challenge the hegemony of dominant knowledge systems, and demonstrate co-existence. The track also hoped to make a case for other systems of knowledges and ways of knowing through examples from native communities. The track was particularly interested in, first, how innovators use indigenous and cultural systems and frameworks to manage or promote innovation and second, the role of local knowledge and culture in transforming innovation as well as the form of local practices inspired innovation. The contributions also aspired to challenge through examples, case studies, theoretical frameworks and methodologies the hegemony of dominant knowledge systems, the divides of ‘academic’ vs ‘non-academic’ and ‘traditional’ vs ‘non-traditional’.

Dysregulation of HOX as a Potential Therapeutic Target in Breast Cancer

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ji-Yeon Lee ◽  
Myoung Hee Kim
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Hox Genes ◽  
Therapeutic Potential ◽  
Expression Patterns ◽  
Genome Structure ◽  
Control Cell ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Cellular Processes ◽  
Hox Protein

: HOX genes belong to the highly conserved homeobox superfamily, responsible for the regulation of various cellular processes that control cell homeostasis, from embryogenesis to carcinogenesis. The abnormal expression of HOX genes is observed in various cancers, including breast cancer; they act as oncogenes or as suppressors of cancer, according to context. In this review, we analyze HOX gene expression patterns in breast cancer and examine their relationship, based on the three-dimensional genome structure of the HOX locus. The presence of non-coding RNAs, embedded within the HOX cluster, and the role of these molecules in breast cancer have been reviewed. We further evaluate the characteristic activity of HOX protein in breast cancer and its therapeutic potential.

Tongues of Fire

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy Farriss
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Difference ◽  
Language Contact ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Culture Contact ◽  
Rhetorical Strategies ◽  
Southern Mexico ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Indigenous Church ◽  
Cultural Gaps

Language and translation governed the creation of Mexican Christianity during the first centuries of colonial rule. Spanish missionaries collaborated with indigenous intellectuals to communicate the gospel in dozens of local languages that had previously lacked grammars, dictionaries, or alphabetic script. The major challenge to translators, more serious than the absence of written aids or the great diversity of languages and their phonetic and syntactical complexity, was the vast cultural difference between the two worlds. The lexical gaps that frustrated the search for equivalence in conveying fundamental Christian doctrines derived from cultural gaps that separated European experiences and concepts from those of the Indians. This study focuses on the Otomangue languages of Oaxaca in southern Mexico, especially Zapotec, and relates their role in the Dominican evangelizing program to the larger frame of culture contact in postconquest Mesoamerica. Fine-grained analysis of translated texts is used to reveal the rhetorical strategies of missionary discourse and combines with an examination of language contact in different social contexts. A major aim is to spotlight the role of the native elites in shaping what emerged as a new form of Christianity. As translators, chief catechists, and parish administrators they made evangelization in many respects an indigenous enterprise and the Mexican church it created an indigenous church.

Moral Norms in Social Contexts

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Herzog
Keyword(s):  
Division Of Labour ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Moral Norms ◽  
Overlapping Consensus ◽  
Social Sphere ◽  
Moral Theories ◽  
Moral Dimensions ◽  
Collective Harm ◽  
Normative Foundations

This chapter sets out the normative foundations on which the book is based. It starts by defending the case for the ‘pervasiveness’ of morality: no social sphere is ‘beyond’ morality, even if there is some degree of institutional ‘division of labour’. Next, it states and explains the moral norms this study is based on: the norm to respect all individuals as moral equals, and norms about the avoidance of individual harm, and about avoiding contributing to collective harm. These norms lie within an ‘overlapping consensus’ of different moral theories and worldviews. In pluralist societies, we should focus on such a consensus—even if it may sometimes be hard to delineate—when reflecting on the moral dimensions of organizations.

Hormones and Behavior

2019 ◽  
pp. 11-26
Author(s):  
Maren N. Vitousek ◽  
Laura A. Schoenle
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Developmental Plasticity ◽  
Endocrine System ◽  
Phenotypic Traits ◽  
Social Environments ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
And Behavior

Hormones mediate the expression of life history traits—phenotypic traits that contribute to lifetime fitness (i.e., reproductive timing, growth rate, number and size of offspring). The endocrine system shapes phenotype by organizing tissues during developmental periods and by activating changes in behavior, physiology, and morphology in response to varying physical and social environments. Because hormones can simultaneously regulate many traits (hormonal pleiotropy), they are important mediators of life history trade-offs among growth, reproduction, and survival. This chapter reviews the role of hormones in shaping life histories with an emphasis on developmental plasticity and reversible flexibility in endocrine and life history traits. It also discusses the advantages of studying hormone–behavior interactions from an evolutionary perspective. Recent research in evolutionary endocrinology has provided insight into the heritability of endocrine traits, how selection on hormone systems may influence the evolution of life histories, and the role of hormonal pleiotropy in driving or constraining evolution.

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