Egg production and caste allocation in the clonally reproductive ant Vollenhovia emeryi

Okamoto, Misato; Ohkawara, Kyohsuke

doi:10.1093/beheco/arq093

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…emeryi are highly genetically differentiated (on the scale of meters), with each patch being dominated by different pairs of male and female clones ( S4 Fig , S3 Table , S4 Table ). Though this should create high potential for inbreeding, a decade of genetic studies has not detected diploid males [ 21 , 22 , 32 , 33 ]. The absence of diploid males is not a result of their effective elimination by the colonies, since they are readily produced in our experimental crosses, suggesting that clonality in V .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

QTL Mapping of Sex Determination Loci Supports an Ancient Pathway in Ants and Honey Bees

Miyakawa

Mikheyev

2015

PLoS Genet

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Sex determination mechanisms play a central role in life-history characteristics, affecting mating systems, sex ratios, inbreeding tolerance, etc. Downstream components of sex determination pathways are highly conserved, but upstream components evolve rapidly. Evolutionary dynamics of sex determination remain poorly understood, particularly because mechanisms appear so diverse. Here we investigate the origins and evolution of complementary sex determination (CSD) in ants and bees. The honey bee has a well-characterized CSD locus, containing tandemly arranged homologs of the transformer gene [complementary sex determiner (csd) and feminizer (fem)]. Such tandem paralogs appear frequently in aculeate hymenopteran genomes. However, only comparative genomic, but not functional, data support a broader role for csd/fem in sex determination, and whether species other than the honey bee use this pathway remains controversial. Here we used a backcross to test whether csd/fem acts as a CSD locus in an ant (Vollenhovia emeryi). After sequencing and assembling the genome, we computed a linkage map, and conducted a quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis of diploid male production using 68 diploid males and 171 workers. We found two QTLs on separate linkage groups (CsdQTL1 and CsdQTL2) that jointly explained 98.0% of the phenotypic variance. CsdQTL1 included two tandem transformer homologs. These data support the prediction that the same CSD mechanism has indeed been conserved for over 100 million years. CsdQTL2 had no similarity to CsdQTL1 and included a 236-kb region with no obvious CSD gene candidates, making it impossible to conclusively characterize it using our data. The sequence of this locus was conserved in at least one other ant genome that diverged >75 million years ago. By applying QTL analysis to ants for the first time, we support the hypothesis that elements of hymenopteran CSD are ancient, but also show that more remains to be learned about the diversity of CSD mechanisms.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

QTL Mapping of Sex Determination Loci Supports an Ancient Pathway in Ants and Honey Bees

Miyakawa

Mikheyev

2015

PLoS Genet

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“…Hence, the exact extent to which the allocation to new queens and workers is determined by individual genotype, as opposed to by worker feeding or even maternal control, remains to be studied. In fact, suggestive evidence for maternally controlled caste ratios was recently provided for V. emeryi by the fact that colonies invested more heavily in the production of queen‐destined eggs than either male‐ or worker‐destined ones, and that this would be predicted based on queen‐controlled, but not worker‐controlled, caste allocation ratios 26. This is because in the Vollenhovia system, in which both sexes are produced clonally, the queen is clonally related to new queens but unrelated to new males 26, and so benefits from investing mainly in the production of new queens (Fig.…”

Section: Mixed Modes Of Reproduction In Ants: Males Strike Backmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…In this way, the species' colonies are thought to benefit both from a genetically diverse workforce, whilst queens can benefit from transmitting their genetic material undiluted to the next generation of queens. Significantly, this system does not appear to be an isolated oddity, but has now been shown to have evolved independently in at least five phylogenetically distant ant species 11–32 and two termites 1, 10. Even more peculiar is that, in some species, AQS has been shown to be combined with other unusual traits, such as the ability of males to clone themselves 12, 17, 19, 30, 31, leading to a complete genetic separation of the male and female lineages 19, 31, 33, and the routine use of incest without leading to inbreeding depression 1, 21, 31.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unusual modes of reproduction in social insects: Shedding light on the evolutionary paradox of sex

Wenseleers

Oystaeyen

2011

BioEssays

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The study of alternative genetic systems and mixed modes of reproduction, whereby sexual and asexual reproduction is combined within the same lifecycle, is of fundamental importance as they may shed light on classical evolutionary issues, such as the paradox of sex. Recently, several such cases were discovered in social insects. A closer examination of these systems has revealed many amazing facts, including the mixed use of asexual and sexual reproduction for the production of new queens and workers, males that can clone themselves and the routine use of incest without deleterious genetic consequences. In addition, in several species, remarkable cases of asexually reproducing socially parasitic worker lineages have been discovered. The study of these unusual systems promises to provide insight into many basic evolutionary questions, including the maintenance of sex, the expression of sexual conflict and kin conflict and the evolution of cheating in asexual lineages.

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“…More recently, queens of Vollenhovia emeryi were shown to invest more resources in producing queen-destined eggs compared with other castes (i.e. male or worker), in accordance with asymmetries of relatedness with the progeny [13]. In this species, both sexes are produced clonally and the queen's relatedness to her female and male sexual offspring is 1 and 0, respectively.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Ant queens adjust egg fertilization to benefit from both sexual and asexual reproduction

2011

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An enduring problem in evolutionary biology is the near ubiquity of sexual reproduction despite the inherent cost of transmitting only half the parent's genes to progeny. Queens of some ant species circumvent this cost by using selectively both sexual reproduction and parthenogenesis: workers arise from fertilized eggs, while new queens are produced by parthenogenesis. We show that queens of the ant Cataglyphis cursor maximize the transmission rate of their genes by regulating the proportion of fertilized and parthenogenetic eggs laid over time. Parthenogenetic offspring are produced in early spring, when workers raise the brood into sexuals. After the mating period, queens lay mostly fertilized eggs that will be reared as the non-reproductive caste.

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Egg production and caste allocation in the clonally reproductive ant Vollenhovia emeryi

Cited by 6 publications

References 21 publications

QTL Mapping of Sex Determination Loci Supports an Ancient Pathway in Ants and Honey Bees

QTL Mapping of Sex Determination Loci Supports an Ancient Pathway in Ants and Honey Bees

Unusual modes of reproduction in social insects: Shedding light on the evolutionary paradox of sex

Ant queens adjust egg fertilization to benefit from both sexual and asexual reproduction

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