Phenomenon of reproductive plasticity in ants

IF 5.8 1区农林科学 Q1 BIOLOGY

Current opinion in insect science Pub Date : 2024-04-05 DOI:10.1016/j.cois.2024.101197

Francisco Carmona-Aldana , Luok Wen Yong , Danny Reinberg , Claude Desplan

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Abstract

Ant colonies are organized in castes with distinct behaviors that together allow the colony to strive. Reproduction relies on one or a few queens that stay in the nest producing eggs, while females of the worker caste do not reproduce and instead engage in colony maintenance and brood caretaking. Yet, in spite of this clear separation of functions, workers can become reproductive under defined circumstances. Here, we review the context in which workers become reproductive, exhibiting asexual or sexual reproduction depending on the species. Remarkably, the activation of reproduction in these workers can be quite stable, with changes that include behavior and a dramatic extension of lifespan. We compare these changes between species that do or do not have a queen caste. We discuss how the mechanisms underlying reproductive plasticity include changes in hormonal functions and in epigenetic configurations. Further studies are warranted to elucidate not only how reproductive functions have been gradually restricted to the queen caste during evolution but also how reproductive plasticity remains possible in workers of some species.

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蚂蚁的生殖可塑性现象

蚂蚁群落以具有不同行为的种姓为单位，这些种姓共同帮助蚂蚁群落努力奋斗。繁殖依靠一只或几只留在巢中产卵的蚁后，而工蚁中的雌蚁则不进行繁殖，而是从事蚁群维护和育雏工作。然而，尽管有这种明确的功能分工，工蜂在特定情况下也能繁殖后代。在此，我们回顾了工蜂在何种情况下开始繁殖，根据物种的不同表现出无性繁殖或有性繁殖。值得注意的是，这些工蜂生殖能力的激活可能相当稳定，其变化包括行为和寿命的大幅延长。我们比较了有王后种姓和无王后种姓物种之间的这些变化。我们讨论了生殖可塑性的内在机制如何包括激素功能和表观遗传结构的变化。我们有必要开展进一步的研究，以阐明在进化过程中生殖功能是如何逐渐局限于王后种姓的，以及某些物种的工蜂是如何保持生殖可塑性的。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Current opinion in insect science BIOLOGYECOLOGYENTOMOLOGY-ECOLOGY

CiteScore

10.40

自引率

1.90%

发文量

113

期刊介绍： Current Opinion in Insect Science is a new systematic review journal that aims to provide specialists with a unique and educational platform to keep up–to–date with the expanding volume of information published in the field of Insect Science. As this is such a broad discipline, we have determined themed sections each of which is reviewed once a year. The following 11 areas are covered by Current Opinion in Insect Science. -Ecology -Insect genomics -Global Change Biology -Molecular Physiology (Including Immunity) -Pests and Resistance -Parasites, Parasitoids and Biological Control -Behavioural Ecology -Development and Regulation -Social Insects -Neuroscience -Vectors and Medical and Veterinary Entomology There is also a section that changes every year to reflect hot topics in the field. Section Editors, who are major authorities in their area, are appointed by the Editors of the journal. They divide their section into a number of topics, ensuring that the field is comprehensively covered and that all issues of current importance are emphasized. Section Editors commission articles from leading scientists on each topic that they have selected and the commissioned authors write short review articles in which they present recent developments in their subject, emphasizing the aspects that, in their opinion, are most important. In addition, they provide short annotations to the papers that they consider to be most interesting from all those published in their topic over the previous year.