Evolution of Social Insect Polyphenism Facilitated by the Sex Differentiation Cascade.

ABSTRACT: The major transition to eusociality required the evolution of a switch to canalize development into either a reproductive or a helper, the nature of which is currently unknown. Following predictions from the 'theory of facilitated variation', we identify sex differentiation pathways as promising candidates because of their pre-adaptation to regulating development of complex phenotypes. We show that conserved core genes, including the juvenile hormone-sensitive master sex differentiation gene doublesex (dsx) and a krüppel homolog 2 (kr-h2) with putative regulatory function, exhibit both sex and morph-specific expression across life stages in the ant Cardiocondyla obscurior. We hypothesize that genes in the sex differentiation cascade evolved perception of alternative input signals for caste

SUBMITTER: Klein A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4816456 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature