Candidate genes for cooperation and aggression in the social wasp Polistes dominula.

ABSTRACT: Cooperation and aggression are ubiquitous in social groups, and the genetic mechanisms underlying these behaviours are of great interest for understanding how social group formation is regulated and how it evolves. In this study, we used a candidate gene approach to investigate the patterns of expression of key genes for cooperation and aggression in the brain of a primitively eusocial wasp, Polistes dominula, during colony founding, when multiple foundresses can join the same nest and establish subtle hierarchies of dominance. We used a comparative approach to select candidate genes for cooperation and aggression looking at two previously published studies on global gene expression in wasps and ants. We tested the expression of these genes in P. dominula wasps that were either displaying

SUBMITTER: Manfredini F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5907630 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature