Facing lethal temperatures: Heat-shock response in desert and temperate ants.

ABSTRACT: Global climate changes may cause profound effects on species adaptation, particularly in ectotherms for whom even moderate warmer temperatures can lead to disproportionate heat failure. Still, several organisms evolved to endure high desert temperatures. Here, we describe the thermal tolerance survival and the transcriptomic heat stress response of three genera of desert (Cataglyphis, Melophorus, and Ocymyrmex) and two of temperate ants (Formica and Myrmica) and explore convergent and specific adaptations. We found heat stress led to either a reactive or a constitutive response in desert ants: Cataglyphis holgerseni and Melophorus bagoti differentially regulated very few transcripts in response to heat (0.12% and 0.14%, respectively), while

SUBMITTER: Araujo NS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10500329 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature