Transcriptomic correlates of nutritional manipulation in a facultatively social bee.

ABSTRACT: Subsocial behaviour in insects consists of extended parental care and may set the stage for the evolution of cooperation through manipulation of offspring. Manipulation of brood nutrition may produce differences in developmental or adult gene regulation, but it also produces smaller offspring which may be coerced into cooperation. The eastern small carpenter bee Ceratina calcarata frequently produces a smaller under-provisioned dwarf eldest daughter (DED). These DEDs are the only offspring to forage and feed siblings. To test whether nutritional manipulation of DEDs alters gene expression, inducing cooperative sibling care, we conducted a transcriptomic study, using whole heads, to assess differences in brain gene expression among naturally provisioned regular daughters and DEDs, experimen

SUBMITTER: Huisken JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12045643 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature