A depauperate immune repertoire precedes evolution of sociality in bees.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Sociality has many rewards, but can also be dangerous, as high population density and low genetic diversity, common in social insects, is ideal for parasite transmission. Despite this risk, honeybees and other sequenced social insects have far fewer canonical immune genes relative to solitary insects. Social protection from infection, including behavioral responses, may explain this depauperate immune repertoire. Here, based on full genome sequences, we describe the immune repertoire of two ecologically and commercially important bumblebee species that diverged approximately 18 million years ago, the North American Bombus impatiens and European Bombus terrestris.

Results

We find that the immune systems of these bumblebees, two species of honeybee, and a solitary l

SUBMITTER: Barribeau SM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4408586 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature