Pre-existing differences in putative fertility signals give workers the upper hand in ant reproductive hierarchies

Honorio, Romain; Châline, Nicolas; Chameron, Stéphane

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2019.09.007

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Furthermore, CHCs are principal signals in chemical communication (Carlson et al 1971 ; Blomquist and Bagnères 2010 ). As versatile semiochemicals, they can encode and transmit a wide variety of information including but not limited to reproductive status (e.g., Smith and Liebig 2017 ), species affiliation (e.g., Shahandeh et al 2018 ), sex (e.g., Luo et al 2019 ), age (e.g., Heuskin et al 2014 ), and social rank (e.g., Honorio et al 2019 ). Moreover, in eusocial insects, CHCs are fundamental as the major nestmate and caste recognition cues (Leonhardt et al 2016 ).…”

Section: General Characteristics Of Cuticular Hydrocarbonsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advances in deciphering the genetic basis of insect cuticular hydrocarbon biosynthesis and variation

2020

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Cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) have two fundamental functions in insects. They protect terrestrial insects against desiccation and serve as signaling molecules in a wide variety of chemical communication systems. It has been hypothesized that these pivotal dual traits for adaptation to both desiccation and signaling have contributed to the considerable evolutionary success of insects. CHCs have been extensively studied concerning their variation, behavioral impact, physiological properties, and chemical compositions. However, our understanding of the genetic underpinnings of CHC biosynthesis has remained limited and mostly biased towards one particular model organism (Drosophila). This rather narrow focus has hampered the establishment of a comprehensive view of CHC genetics across wider phylogenetic boundaries. This review attempts to integrate new insights and recent knowledge gained in the genetics of CHC biosynthesis, which is just beginning to incorporate work on more insect taxa beyond Drosophila. It is intended to provide a stepping stone towards a wider and more general understanding of the genetic mechanisms that gave rise to the astonishing diversity of CHC compounds across different insect taxa. Further research in this field is encouraged to aim at better discriminating conserved versus taxon-specific genetic elements underlying CHC variation. This will be instrumental in greatly expanding our knowledge of the origins and variation of genes governing the biosynthesis of these crucial phenotypic traits that have greatly impacted insect behavior, physiology, and evolution.

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Section: General Characteristics Of Cuticular Hydrocarbonsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advances in deciphering the genetic basis of insect cuticular hydrocarbon biosynthesis and variation

2020

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“…The proximate mechanisms involved in the formation of dominance hierarchies in animal groups has been subject to extensive investigation. In the traditional view a dominance hierarchy results from pre-existing, prior qualities, such as a larger body size [6][7][8][9] or higher levels of gonadotrophic hormones [10]. Rowell [11] proposed additionally that dominance ranks may reflect the history of the self-reinforcing effects of winning and losing competitive interactions [12][13][14][15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Female emancipation in a male dominant, sexually dimorphic primate under natural conditions

et al. 2021

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In most group-living animals, a dominance hierarchy reduces the costs of competition for limited resources. Dominance ranks may reflect prior attributes, such as body size, related to fighting ability or reflect the history of self-reinforcing effects of winning and losing a conflict (the winner-loser effect), or both. As to prior attributes, in sexually dimorphic species, where males are larger than females, males are assumed to be dominant over females. As to the winner-loser effect, the computational model DomWorld has shown that despite the female’s lower initial fighting ability, females achieve some degree of dominance of females over males. In the model, this degree of female dominance increases with the proportion of males in a group. This increase was supposed to emerge from the higher fraction of fights of males among themselves. These correlations were confirmed in despotic macaques, vervet monkeys, and in humans. Here, we first investigate this hypothesis in DomWorld and next in long-term data of 9,300 observation hours on six wild groups of robust capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus; S. nigritus, and S. xanthosternos) in three Brazilian sites. We test whether both the proportion of males and degree of female dominance over males are indeed associated with a higher relative frequency of aggression among males and a higher relative frequency of aggression of females to males. We confirm these correlations in DomWorld. Next, we confirm in empirical data of capuchin monkeys that with the proportion of males in the group there is indeed an increase in female dominance over males, and in the relative frequency of both male-male aggression and aggression of females to males and that the female dominance index is significantly positively associated with male male aggression. Our results reveal that adult sex ratio influences the power relation between the sexes beyond predictions from socioecological models.

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“…These CHCs primarily safeguard the body of arthropods against desiccation (Berson et al., 2019; Blomquist & Bagnères, 2010; Edney, 2019), with an additional role in communication. Here, they can, for instance, signal the fertility status (Jallon, 1984; Venard & Jallon, 1980) and, in social insect societies, regulate the hierarchy and division of labour (d'Ettorre & Heinze, 2005; Honorio et al., 2019; Leonhardt et al., 2016; Monnin, 1999). The precise function of all CHC compounds remains largely unknown, and we are only in the early stages of comprehending their specific or multiple roles.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genomic basis of adaptation to climate and parasite prevalence and the importance of odorant perception in the ant Temnothorax longispinosus

Macit,

Collin,

Pfenninger

et al. 2024

Molecular Ecology

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A co‐evolutionary arms race ensues when parasites exhibit exploitative behaviour, which prompts adaptations in their hosts, in turn triggering counter‐adaptations by the parasites. To unravel the genomic basis of this coevolution from the host's perspective, we collected ants of the host species Temnothorax longispinosus, parasitized by the social parasite Temnothorax americanus, from 10 populations in the northeastern United States exhibiting varying levels of parasite prevalence and living under different climatic conditions. We conducted a genome‐wide association study (GWAS) to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with both prevalence and climate. Our investigation highlighted a multitude of candidate SNPs associated with parasite prevalence, particularly in genes responsible for sensory perception of smell including odorant receptor genes. We further focused on population‐specific compositions of cuticular hydrocarbons, a complex trait important for signalling, communication and protection against desiccation. The relative abundances of n‐alkanes were correlated with climate, while there was only a trend between parasite prevalence and the relative abundances of known recognition cues. Furthermore, we identified candidate genes likely involved in the synthesis and recognition of specific hydrocarbons. In addition, we analysed the population‐level gene expression in the antennae, the primary organ for odorant reception, and established a strong correlation with parasite prevalence. Our comprehensive study highlights the intricate genomic patterns forged by the interplay of diverse selection factors and how these are manifested in the expression of various phenotypes.

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Pre-existing differences in putative fertility signals give workers the upper hand in ant reproductive hierarchies

Cited by 6 publications

References 47 publications

Advances in deciphering the genetic basis of insect cuticular hydrocarbon biosynthesis and variation

Advances in deciphering the genetic basis of insect cuticular hydrocarbon biosynthesis and variation

Female emancipation in a male dominant, sexually dimorphic primate under natural conditions

Genomic basis of adaptation to climate and parasite prevalence and the importance of odorant perception in the ant Temnothorax longispinosus

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