Molecular evolutionary analyses of insect societies

Fischman, Brielle J.; Woodard, S. Hollis; Robinson, Gene E.

doi:10.1073/pnas.1100301108

Cited by 88 publications

(76 citation statements)

References 102 publications

(146 reference statements)

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“…When integrated with other studies on the molecular basis for social evolution in insects, our study provides additional support that the multiple independent evolutions of eusociality that occurred in the insects were multifaceted, involving a variety of molecular changes, both shared and unique across lineages [50]. For example, here, we found evidence that bumblebees might not have evolved sibling care via the same heterochronic changes in gene regulation as it appears to have in Polistes [19,20], and yet our results also strengthen the idea that genetic toolkits have played a widespread role in social insect evolution, with feeding-or nutrition-related genetic pathways playing a prominent role [8,18].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 66%

Molecular heterochrony and the evolution of sociality in bumblebees ( Bombus terrestris )

et al. 2014

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Sibling care is a hallmark of social insects, but its evolution remains challenging to explain at the molecular level. The hypothesis that sibling care evolved from ancestral maternal care in primitively eusocial insects has been elaborated to involve heterochronic changes in gene expression. This elaboration leads to the prediction that workers in these species will show patterns of gene expression more similar to foundress queens, who express maternal care behaviour, than to established queens engaged solely in reproductive behaviour. We tested this idea in bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) using a microarray platform with approximately 4500 genes. Unlike the wasp Polistes metricus, in which support for the above prediction has been obtained, we found that patterns of brain gene expression in foundress and queen bumblebees were more similar to each other than to workers. Comparisons of differentially expressed genes derived from this study and gene lists from microarray studies in Polistes and the honeybee Apis mellifera yielded a shared set of genes involved in the regulation of related social behaviours across independent eusocial lineages. Together, these results suggest that multiple independent evolutions of eusociality in the insects might have involved different evolutionary routes, but nevertheless involved some similarities at the molecular level.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 66%

Molecular heterochrony and the evolution of sociality in bumblebees ( Bombus terrestris )

et al. 2014

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“…The honeybee's complex system of division of labor (DOL) has long been a model system for many topics in biology (Page and Robinson 1991;Beshers and Fewell 2001;Johnson 2003;Robinson et al 2008;Fischman et al 2011). It is a particularly good model for understanding the genetic basis of complex traits and phenotypic plasticity (Ben-Shahar et al 2002;Grozinger et al 2003;Rueppell et al 2004;Whitfield et al 2006;Oldroyd and Thompson 2007;Smith et al 2008;Johnson and Tsutsui 2011;Fussnecker et al 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Individual-level patterns of division of labor in honeybees highlight flexibility in colony-level developmental mechanisms

Johnson

Frost

2012

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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Honeybee division of labor (DOL) has become a model system for exploring the genetic basis of complex traits and phenotypic plasticity. Although many highly informative behavioral studies have been conducted on this topic (both at the cohort and individual levels), most studies have focused on a few behavioral acts, such as the age of first foraging. Few studies have recorded large numbers of relatively complete individual-level patterns of DOL. Such fine-scale patterns would lay the foundation for rigorous molecular analyses of this phenomenon and allow us to differentiate between competing mechanistic models of DOL. Here, we record over 100 individual-level DOL patterns of bees living under natural conditions. We found that the transitions between castes (polyphenism states) are often gradual, with bees being in multiple castes at once. This is contrary to the traditional view that changes are abrupt. We also found that bees often skip castes, a key prediction of a recent model of DOL. We further confirm variation in the rate at which bees pass through castes and the age of first foraging. Taken together, these results greatly improve our understanding of this model system and allow for a strong revision of current models of honeybee DOL.

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“…[20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27]). Moreover, these investigations provide further inspiration for the development of new theory aimed at generating predictions regarding how genes should evolve under direct and kin selection.…”

Section: Outlook: Kin Selection and Social Insect Genomicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Kin selection, genomics and caste-antagonistic pleiotropy

Hall

Goodisman

2013

Biol. Lett.

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Kin selection is a fundamentally important process that affects the evolution of social behaviours. The genomics revolution now provides the opportunity to test kin selection theory using genomic data. In this commentary, we discuss previous studies that explored the link between kin selection and patterns of variation within the genome. We then present a new theory aimed at understanding the evolution of genes involved in the development of social insects. Specifically, we investigate caste-antagonistic pleiotropy, which occurs when the phenotypes of distinct castes are optimized by different genotypes at a single locus. We find that caste-antagonistic pleiotropy leads to narrow regions where polymorphism can be maintained. Furthermore, multiple mating by queens reduces the region in which worker-favoured alleles fix, which suggests that multiple mating impedes worker caste evolution. We conclude by discussing ways to test these and other facets of kin selection using newly emerging genomic data.

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Molecular evolutionary analyses of insect societies

Cited by 88 publications

References 102 publications

Molecular heterochrony and the evolution of sociality in bumblebees ( Bombus terrestris )

Molecular heterochrony and the evolution of sociality in bumblebees ( Bombus terrestris )

Individual-level patterns of division of labor in honeybees highlight flexibility in colony-level developmental mechanisms

Kin selection, genomics and caste-antagonistic pleiotropy

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