Physiological profiles associated with ceasing growth of unfertilized eggs produced by unmated queens in the subterranean termite <i>Reticulitermes chinensis</i>

Li, Ganghua; Liu, Long; Sun, Pengdong; Lei, Chaoliang; Chen, Xiongwen; Huang, Qiuying

doi:10.1242/bio.017319

Cited by 4 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…Hence, a number of micropyles were found on eggs laid by female-female colonies of both species in this study, which concurred with previous reports, in which micropyles were present on the parthenogenetic eggs of the termite R. speratus during the early colony stage [40,41]. Contrary to previous research, no micropyles were found on the unfertilized eggs of R. chinensis [41]. However, we found micropyles on the fertilized and unfertilized eggs of both R. flaviceps and R. aculabialis (Figure 4).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

“…While the cleavage rate of newly produced eggs might have been higher due to the mitosis of the maternal mRNA protein, with the degradation of maternal mRNA, the rate of cleavage slowed and the egg initiated the nucleus genome to encode for new protein synthesis [10,41]. The egg development of R. flaviceps ceased in the blastoderm formation after approximately 8-10 days postoviposition.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Embryonic Development of Parthenogenetic and Sexual Eggs in Lower Termites

Peng

Khan

Liu

et al. 2023

Insects

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Worldwide, termites are one of few social insects. In this research, the stages of embryonic development in the parthenogenetic and sexual eggs of Reticulitermes aculabialis and R. flaviceps were observed and described. In R. flaviceps, the egg development of the FF and FM groups happened during the early phases of development, whereas in R. aculabialis, this appeared mainly during the late phase of development. The variance in the number of micropyles between the R. flaviceps FF colony type and the R. aculabialis FF colony type was statistically significant. Five stages of egg development were found in both types of R. aculabialis but only the sexual eggs of R. flaviceps. In R. flaviceps, 86% of the parthenogenetic eggs stopped growing during the blastoderm development, with the yolk cell assembling frequently in the center of the egg. According to the results of the single-cell transcriptome sequencing, we investigated the egg-to-larval expression level of genes (pka, map2k1, mapk1/3, hgk, mkp, and pax6) and indicated that the levels of essential gene expression in RaFF were considerably higher than in RfFF (p < 0.05). We also discovered that the oocyte cleavage rate in the FF colony type was considerably lower in R. flaviceps compared to R. aculabialis, which gave rise to a smaller number of mature oocytes in R. flaviceps. During ovulation in both species, oocytes underwent activation and one or two cleavage events, but the development of unfertilized eggs ceased in R. flaviceps. It was shown that termite oocyte and embryonic development were heavily influenced by genes with significant expressions. Results from the databases KEGG, COG, and GO unigenes revealed the control of numerous biological processes. This study is the first to complete a database of parthenogenetic and sexual eggs of R. flaviceps and R. aculabialis.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Embryonic Development of Parthenogenetic and Sexual Eggs in Lower Termites

Peng

Khan

Liu

et al. 2023

Insects

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“…The typical examples were observed in many social insect species (e.g. ant or termite) that the micropyle structure disappeared on eggs produced by virgin workers 11,12 . Here, for H. axyridis , almost 17 micropyles were still presented on eggs from virgin female.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…In addition, the number of micropyles also showed to be influenced by the experience of copulation (or called fertilization). For example, virgin female workers of the ant, Gnamptogenys menadensis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and virgin queen of the subterranean termite, Reticulitermes chinensis (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) can only lay small number of eggs lacking micropyle; while those females following mating produced a mass number of eggs presenting micropyles 11,12 . Queens of the termite, Reticulitermes speratus (Isoptera; Rhinotermitidae), in particular, could close the gate of micropyle to switch from sexual to asexual reproduction when the kings were presented 13 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating reproductive success of the ladybird beetle Harmonia axyridis from the perspective of micropyle variation

Sun

Hao

Liu

et al. 2019

Sci Rep

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Micropyles in insects are small openings that allow sperm entry into, and the number was usually decreased on unfertilized and (or) undeveloped eggs. However, reports showed that Harmonia axyridis , a reproductive success model, deposited similar number of micropyles on undeveloped and developing eggs. Thus, it was confusing whether micropyles in H. axyridis were unaffected. To solve this confusion, two experiments were conducted here. Firstly, virgin female and four different days delayed mating (DDM) experiments were conducted to reveal the effects of fertilization stimulus and delayed-fertilization. Secondly, intercrosses between a light-colored mutant (HAM, an adaptive deficiency) and wild type (HAW) were conducted to further reveal whether there were female and male interactions. We found that (1) eggs produced by virgin and DDM females had significantly less micropyles than control. Even so, more than 18 micropyles were observed on eggs following fertilization and, consequently, egg production as well as hatch rate was not negatively affected by mating delay; (2) number of micropyles was significantly varied among the four reciprocal crosses and virgin HAW female. Specifically, the heterozygous eggs (Cross-D) and wild-type homozygous eggs (Cross-B) respectively had the least and maximum micropyles, and eggs from virgin HAW female had significantly less micropyles compared to those from HAW female (Cross-B or Cross-C), but the number was significantly higher than those from HAM female (Cross-A or Cross-D). These results informed us that the number of micropyles in H. axyridis is plastic but maintaining a high-quantity that offers many benefits, which should contribute to its reproduction success.

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“…There was no difference in the number of eggs produced parthenogenetically and the eggs sexually in R. chinensis, R. labralis and R. speratus. There was a significant difference in the number of eggs in the two females without the parthenogenetic ability (Xing unpublished data (Li et al, 2016a).…”

Section: /15mentioning

confidence: 99%

A comprehensive review on the documented characteristics of four Reticulitermes termites (Rhinotermitidae, Blattodea) of China

Khan

Bawazeer

et al. 2024

Braz. J. Biol.

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Termites are known as social insects worldwide. Presently in China 473 species, 44 genera and 4 families of termites have been reported. Of them, 111 Reticulitermes species are widely spread in different zones of China. The dispersion flight season of these Chinese Reticulitermes species are usually started from February to June, but in some regions different species are distributed, sharing their boundaries and having overlapping flight seasons. These reasons become important sources of hybridization between two different heterospecific populations of termites. It was confirmed that the fertilized eggs and unfertilized eggs of some Reticulitermes termites have the capacity of cleavage. While the unfertilized eggs of R. aculabialis, R. chinensis and R. labralis cleaved normally and the only R. aculabialis unfertilized eggs develop in embryos. While, the R. flaviceps and R. chinensis were observed with their abnormal embryonic development, and not hatching of eggs parthenogenetically. They were reported more threatening to Chinese resources as they propagate with parthenogenesis, hybridization and sexual reproduction. Eggshell and macrophiles of eggs play important roles in species identification and control. Although, they are severe pests and cause a wide range of damages to wooden structures and products in homes, buildings, building materials, trees, crops, and forests in China’s Mainland.

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Physiological profiles associated with ceasing growth of unfertilized eggs produced by unmated queens in the subterranean termite Reticulitermes chinensis

Cited by 4 publications

References 54 publications

Embryonic Development of Parthenogenetic and Sexual Eggs in Lower Termites

Embryonic Development of Parthenogenetic and Sexual Eggs in Lower Termites

Investigating reproductive success of the ladybird beetle Harmonia axyridis from the perspective of micropyle variation

A comprehensive review on the documented characteristics of four Reticulitermes termites (Rhinotermitidae, Blattodea) of China

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