scholarly journals Family-based guilds in the ant Pachycondyla inversa

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 20130125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heikki Helanterä ◽  
Oliver Aehle ◽  
Maurice Roux ◽  
Jürgen Heinze ◽  
Patrizia d'Ettorre
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
Disease Resistance ◽  
Group Living ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
Caste Differentiation ◽  
Evolution Of Sociality ◽  
Ponerine Ant ◽  
Chemical Profiles ◽  
Family Based ◽  
Eusocial Species

High relatedness promotes the evolution of sociality because potentially costly cooperative behaviours are directed towards kin. However, societies, such as those of social insects, also benefit from genetic diversity, e.g. through enhanced disease resistance and division of labour. Effects of genetic diversity have been investigated in a few complex eusocial species. Here, we show that genetically based division of labour may also be important in ‘simple societies’, with fewer individuals and limited morphological caste differentiation. The ponerine ant Pachycondyla inversa has small colonies, headed by several unrelated queens. We show that nest-mate workers from different matrilines engage in different tasks, have distinct chemical profiles and associate preferentially with kin in the nest, while queens and brood stay together. This suggests that genetically based division of labour may precede the evolution of complex eusociality and facilitate the existence of low relatedness societies functioning as associations of distinct families that mutually benefit from group living.

scholarly journals Chemical Variation among Castes, Female Life Stages and Populations of the Facultative Eusocial Sweat Bee Halictus rubicundus (Hymenoptera: Halictidae)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iris Steitz ◽  
Robert J Paxton ◽  
Stefan Schulz ◽  
Manfred Ayasse
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Communication ◽  
North American ◽  
Specific Chemical ◽  
Eusocial Insects ◽  
Queen Signal ◽  
Ovarian Activation ◽  
Chemical Profiles ◽  
Reproductive Division Of Labor ◽  
Reproductive Division ◽  
Eusocial Species

AbstractIn eusocial insects, chemical communication is crucial for mediating many aspects of social activities, especially the regulation of reproduction. Though queen signals are known to decrease ovarian activation of workers in highly eusocial species, little is known about their evolution. In contrast, some primitively eusocial species are thought to control worker reproduction through physical aggression by the queen rather than via pheromones, suggesting the evolutionary establishment of chemical signals with more derived sociality. However, studies supporting this hypothesis are largely missing. Socially polymorphic halictid bees, such as Halictus rubicundus, with social and solitary populations in both Europe and North America, offer excellent opportunities to illuminate the evolution of caste-specific signals. Here we compared the chemical profiles of social and solitary populations from both continents and tested whether (i) population or social level affect chemical dissimilarity and whether (ii) caste-specific patterns reflect a conserved queen signal. Our results demonstrate unique odor profiles of European and North American populations, mainly due to different isomers of n-alkenes and macrocyclic lactones; chemical differences may be indicative of phylogeographic drift in odor profiles. We also found common compounds overproduced in queens compared to workers in both populations, indicating a potential conserved queen signal. However, North American populations have a lower caste-specific chemical dissimilarity than European populations which raises the question if both use different mechanisms of regulating reproductive division of labor. Therefore, our study gives new insights into the evolution of eusocial behavior and the role of chemical communication in the inhibition of reproduction.

scholarly journals Genetic Diversity and Disease Resistance of Wild Malus orientalis from Turkey and Southern Russia

2008 ◽  
Vol 133 (3) ◽  
pp. 383-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gayle M. Volk ◽  
Christopher M. Richards ◽  
Ann A. Reilley ◽  
Adam D. Henk ◽  
Patrick A. Reeves ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
Disease Resistance ◽  
Venturia Inaequalis ◽  
Apple Scab ◽  
The Black Sea ◽  
Wild Populations ◽  
Southern Russia ◽  
Sib Families ◽  
Small Clusters ◽  
Malus Orientalis

Genetic diversity and disease resistance are described for 496 seedlings from wild populations of Malus orientalis Uglitzh. collected in southern Russia and Turkey in 1998 and 1999. Eighty-five half-sib families were genotyped using seven microsatellite markers, and disease resistance was determined for apple scab (Venturia inaequalis Cooke), cedar apple rust (Gymnosporangium juniperi-virginianae Schwein), and fire blight (Erwinia amylovora Burrill). Individuals from the two Russian Caucasus collection locations were homogeneous compared with populations from the four Turkish collection locations. Within three of the Turkish collection locations, some half-sib families were highly diverse and several of these families had unusually high levels of disease resistance. In all, twenty individuals exhibited resistance to all three diseases. Bayesian analyses of the population structure revealed six distinct clusters. Most of the individuals segregated into two clusters, one containing individuals primarily from southern Russia and the other containing individuals from both Russia and northern Turkey. Individuals in the four small clusters were specific to Turkish collection locations. These data suggest wild populations of M. orientalis from regions around the Black Sea are genetically distinguishable and show high levels of diversity.

INCREASING GENETIC DIVERSITY IN APPLE BREEDING TO IMPROVE THE DURABILITY OF PEST AND DISEASE RESISTANCE

2000 ◽  
pp. 185-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Bus ◽  
S. Bradley ◽  
M. Hofstee ◽  
P. Alspach ◽  
L. Brewer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
Disease Resistance ◽  
Apple Breeding
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