Hymenopteran-specific TRPA channel from the Texas leaf cutter ant (Atta texana) is heat and cold activated and expression correlates with environmental temperature.

ABSTRACT: Leaf cutting ants of the genus Atta cultivate fungal gardens, carefully modifying environmental conditions to maintain optimal temperature for fungal growth. Antennal nerves from Atta are highly temperature sensitive, but the underlying molecular sensor is unknown. Here, we utilize Atta texana (Texas leaf cutter ant) to investigate the molecular basis of ant temperature sensation and how it might have evolved as the range expanded northeast across Texas from ancestral populations in Mexico. We focus on transient receptor potential (TRP) channel genes, the best characterized temperature sensor proteins in animals. Atta texana antennae express 6 of 13 Hymenopteran TRP channel genes and sequences are under a mix of relaxed and intensified selection. In a behavioral assay, we find A. texana wo

SUBMITTER: York JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11824891 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature