Testicular development and modes of apoptosis during spermatogenesis in various castes of the termite Reticulitermes labralis (Isoptera:Rhinotermitidae)

Su, Xiao Hong; Chen, Jiao Ling; Zhang, Xiao Jing; Wang, Xue; Li, He; Xing, Lian Xi

doi:10.1016/j.asd.2015.08.009

Cited by 12 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 34 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…For all subsequent analyses, we excluded observations made in non-reproductive individuals from eusocial species (e.g. workers), as well as two observations that represented significant outliers and could not be validated using additional sources [ 15 , 16 ]. See the electronic supplementary material, methods §1 for details.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Repeated loss of variation in insect ovary morphology highlights the role of development in life-history evolution

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The number of offspring an organism can produce is a key component of its evolutionary fitness and life history. Here we perform a test of the hypothesized trade-off between the number and size of offspring using thousands of descriptions of the number of egg-producing compartments in the insect ovary (ovarioles), a common proxy for potential offspring number in insects. We find evidence of a negative relationship between egg size and ovariole number when accounting for adult body size. However, in contrast to prior claims, we note that this relationship is not generalizable across all insect clades, and we highlight several factors that may have contributed to this size-number trade-off being stated as a general rule in previous studies. We reconstruct the evolution of the arrangement of cells that contribute nutrients and patterning information during oogenesis (nurse cells), and show that the diversification of ovariole number and egg size have both been largely independent of their presence or position within the ovariole. Instead, we show that ovariole number evolution has been shaped by a series of transitions between variable and invariant states, with multiple independent lineages evolving to have almost no variation in ovariole number. We highlight the implications of these invariant lineages on our understanding of the specification of ovariole number during development, as well as the importance of considering developmental processes in theories of life-history evolution.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Repeated loss of variation in insect ovary morphology highlights the role of development in life-history evolution

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…We matched these records to additional taxonomic information using the software TaxReformer 13 . For all subsequent analyses, we excluded observations made in non-reproductive individuals from eusocial species (workers), as well as two observations that represented significant outliers and could not be validated using additional sources 14,15 . See supplementary methods section 1 for details.…”

Section: Gathering Trait Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Repeated loss of variation in insect ovary morphology highlights the role of developmental constraint in life-history evolution

Church

Medeiros

Donoughe

et al. 2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

AbstractThe number of offspring an organism can produce is a key component of its evolutionary fitness and lifehistory. Here we perform a test of the hypothesized trade off between the number and size of offspring using thousands of descriptions of the number of egg-producing compartments in the insect ovary (ovarioles), a common proxy for potential offspring number in insects. In contrast to prior claims, we find that ovariole number is not generally negatively correlated with the size of insect eggs, and we highlight several factors that may have contributed to this size-number trade off being strongly asserted in previous studies. We reconstruct the evolutionary history of the nurse cell arrangement within the ovariole, and show that the diversification of ovariole number and egg size have both been largely independent of nurse cell presence or position within the ovariole. Instead we show that ovariole number evolution has been shaped by a series of transitions between variable and invariant states, with multiple independent lineages evolving to have almost no variation in ovariole number. We highlight the implications of these invariant lineages on our understanding of the specification of ovariole number during development, as well as the importance of considering developmental processes in theories of life-history evolution.

show abstract

“…Gonadal development in termites would appear to be the most significant biological process that reflects reproductive differences ( Su et al 2015 ). Dealates, having activated gonads, are capable of producing offspring, while dealates having inactive gonads are unable to produce offspring.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Same-sex Pairs Retain Their Reproductive Capacity as a Potential Opportunity for Individual Reproductive Success in Termites

Wang

et al. 2023

Journal of Insect Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In eusocial termites, successful pairing is an essential element of dispersal and distribution after the departure of alates from natal colonies. Two situations could arise during the pairing process: mixed-sex pairs and same-sex pairs. However, most previous studies focused on mixed-sex pairs, overlooking groups formed by same-sex pairings, especially potential fecundity (the total number of oocytes or ovarioles), oogenesis and the development stage of oocytes of females in female–female pairs, and spermatogenesis and testis development of males in male–male pairs. In this study, through experimentation, we investigated the reproductive ability of virgin dealates based on various pairing types as mentioned above. We found that the life spans of virgin dealates can cover 1 yr or even more when they establish a nest with a partner, which is more than 10-fold longer than the life span of individuals establishing a colony alone. After 1 yr of pairing, the potential fecundity of virgin same sex dealates did not degenerate significantly compared with newly emerged dealates, including the number of ovarioles, size of testis, oogenesis, and the development stage of the oocytes. Moreover, when individuals of same-sex pairings experimentally changed into mixed-sex pairs after 1 yr, the eggs produced in the colony hatched into larvae. These findings suggest that dealates which through same-sex pairs retain fecundity after 1 yr have more reproductive potential than dealates that failed to pair with heterosexuals, shedding light on the ecological significance of homosexual behaviors in terms of the successful extension and fecundity of eusocial termites.

show abstract

Testicular development and modes of apoptosis during spermatogenesis in various castes of the termite Reticulitermes labralis (Isoptera:Rhinotermitidae)

Cited by 12 publications

References 34 publications

Repeated loss of variation in insect ovary morphology highlights the role of development in life-history evolution

Repeated loss of variation in insect ovary morphology highlights the role of development in life-history evolution

Repeated loss of variation in insect ovary morphology highlights the role of developmental constraint in life-history evolution

Same-sex Pairs Retain Their Reproductive Capacity as a Potential Opportunity for Individual Reproductive Success in Termites

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About