Sociogenomics of cooperation and conflict during colony founding in the fire ant Solenopsis invicta.

ABSTRACT: One of the fundamental questions in biology is how cooperative and altruistic behaviors evolved. The majority of studies seeking to identify the genes regulating these behaviors have been performed in systems where behavioral and physiological differences are relatively fixed, such as in the honey bee. During colony founding in the monogyne (one queen per colony) social form of the fire ant Solenopsis invicta, newly-mated queens may start new colonies either individually (haplometrosis) or in groups (pleometrosis). However, only one queen (the "winner") in pleometrotic associations survives and takes the lead of the young colony while the others (the "losers") are executed. Thus, colony founding in fire ants provides an excellent system in which to examine the genes underpinning cooperativ

SUBMITTER: Manfredini F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3738511 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature