Year: 2021
Type: preprint
Abstract: , workers retain reproductive ability, inhibited by the queen pheromones. Following the queen loss, the colony undergoes social unrest with an antennal dueling tournament. Most workers quickly abandon the tournament while a few workers continue the dueling for months and become gamergates (pseudoqueens). However, the temporal dynamics of the social behavior and molecular mechanisms underlining the caste transition and social dominance remain unclear. By tracking behaviors, we show that the gamergate fate is accurately determined 3 d after initiation of the tournament. To identify genetic factors responsible for this commitment, we compared transcriptomes of different tissues between dueling and nondueling workers. We found that juvenile hormone is globally repressed, whereas ecdysone biosynthesis in the ovary is increased in gamergates. We show that molecular changes in the brain serve as earliest caste predictors compared with other tissues. Thus, behavioral and molecular data indicate that despite the prolonged social upheaval, the gamergate fate is rapidly established, suggesting a robust re-establishment of social structure.
Source: Genes & Development
Authors: Comzit Opachaloemphan, Giacomo Mancini, Nikos Konstantinides, Apurva Parikh, Jakub Mlejnek, Hua Yan, Danny Reinberg, Claude Desplan
Institutions: New York University, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Language: English
Subfield: Genetics
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Awards: G2057822721, Reinforcement of epigenetic memory by social interactions in ants, Regulation of variable lifespan in castes of ants, G524753061, A machine-learning computational model of generation of neural diversity in Drosophila optic lobes, Coordinated patterning of brain regions, Aging and rejuvenation: An ant model to study the regulation of longevity
OpenAlex ID: W3132595009