Genes associated with ant social behavior show distinct transcriptional and evolutionary patterns
Studies of the genetic basis and evolution of complex social behavior emphasize either conserved or novel genes. To begin to reconcile these perspectives, we studied how the evolutionary conservation of genes associated with social behavior depends on regulatory context, and whether genes associated...
Main Authors: | , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
2015-01-01
|
Series: | eLife |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://elifesciences.org/articles/04775 |
id |
doaj-dc202f80238d41e89cfa71958c49b2f6 |
---|---|
record_format |
Article |
spelling |
doaj-dc202f80238d41e89cfa71958c49b2f62021-05-04T23:38:08ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2015-01-01410.7554/eLife.04775Genes associated with ant social behavior show distinct transcriptional and evolutionary patternsAlexander S Mikheyev0Timothy A Linksvayer1Ecology and Evolution Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Okinawa, Japan; Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberrra, AustraliaDepartment of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, United StatesStudies of the genetic basis and evolution of complex social behavior emphasize either conserved or novel genes. To begin to reconcile these perspectives, we studied how the evolutionary conservation of genes associated with social behavior depends on regulatory context, and whether genes associated with social behavior exist in distinct regulatory and evolutionary contexts. We identified modules of co-expressed genes associated with age-based division of labor between nurses and foragers in the ant Monomorium pharaonis, and we studied the relationship between molecular evolution, connectivity, and expression. Highly connected and expressed genes were more evolutionarily conserved, as expected. However, compared to the rest of the genome, forager-upregulated genes were much more highly connected and conserved, while nurse-upregulated genes were less connected and more evolutionarily labile. Our results indicate that the genetic architecture of social behavior includes both highly connected and conserved components as well as loosely connected and evolutionarily labile components.https://elifesciences.org/articles/04775social evolutiongene regulatory networkage polyethismeusociality |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Alexander S Mikheyev Timothy A Linksvayer |
spellingShingle |
Alexander S Mikheyev Timothy A Linksvayer Genes associated with ant social behavior show distinct transcriptional and evolutionary patterns eLife social evolution gene regulatory network age polyethism eusociality |
author_facet |
Alexander S Mikheyev Timothy A Linksvayer |
author_sort |
Alexander S Mikheyev |
title |
Genes associated with ant social behavior show distinct transcriptional and evolutionary patterns |
title_short |
Genes associated with ant social behavior show distinct transcriptional and evolutionary patterns |
title_full |
Genes associated with ant social behavior show distinct transcriptional and evolutionary patterns |
title_fullStr |
Genes associated with ant social behavior show distinct transcriptional and evolutionary patterns |
title_full_unstemmed |
Genes associated with ant social behavior show distinct transcriptional and evolutionary patterns |
title_sort |
genes associated with ant social behavior show distinct transcriptional and evolutionary patterns |
publisher |
eLife Sciences Publications Ltd |
series |
eLife |
issn |
2050-084X |
publishDate |
2015-01-01 |
description |
Studies of the genetic basis and evolution of complex social behavior emphasize either conserved or novel genes. To begin to reconcile these perspectives, we studied how the evolutionary conservation of genes associated with social behavior depends on regulatory context, and whether genes associated with social behavior exist in distinct regulatory and evolutionary contexts. We identified modules of co-expressed genes associated with age-based division of labor between nurses and foragers in the ant Monomorium pharaonis, and we studied the relationship between molecular evolution, connectivity, and expression. Highly connected and expressed genes were more evolutionarily conserved, as expected. However, compared to the rest of the genome, forager-upregulated genes were much more highly connected and conserved, while nurse-upregulated genes were less connected and more evolutionarily labile. Our results indicate that the genetic architecture of social behavior includes both highly connected and conserved components as well as loosely connected and evolutionarily labile components. |
topic |
social evolution gene regulatory network age polyethism eusociality |
url |
https://elifesciences.org/articles/04775 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT alexandersmikheyev genesassociatedwithantsocialbehaviorshowdistincttranscriptionalandevolutionarypatterns AT timothyalinksvayer genesassociatedwithantsocialbehaviorshowdistincttranscriptionalandevolutionarypatterns |
_version_ |
1721476909141852160 |