Molecular Basis of Eusocial Complexity: The Case of Worker Reproductivity in Bees.

ABSTRACT: In eusocial insects, the molecular basis of worker reproductivity, including how it changes with eusocial complexity, remains relatively poorly understood. To address this, we used mRNA-seq to isolate genes differentially expressed between ovary-active and ovary-inactive workers in the intermediately eusocial bumblebee Bombus terrestris. By comparisons with data from the advanced eusocial honeybee Apis mellifera, which shows reduced worker reproductivity, we characterized gene expression differences associated with change in worker reproductivity as a function of eusocial complexity. By comparisons with genes associated with queen-worker caste development in B. terrestris larvae, we tested the behavioral-morphological caste homology hypothesis, which proposes co-option of genes influencing

SUBMITTER: Prince DC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11670783 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature