A Crucial Caste Regulation Gene Detected by Comparing Termites and Sister Group Cockroaches.

ABSTRACT: Sterile castes are a defining criterion of eusociality; investigating their evolutionary origins can critically advance theory. In termites, the soldier caste is regarded as the first acquired permanently sterile caste. Previous studies showed that juvenile hormone (JH) is the primary factor inducing soldier differentiation, and treatment of workers with artificial JH can generate presoldier differentiation. It follows that a shift from a typical hemimetabolous JH response might be required for soldier formation during the course of termite evolution within the cockroach clade. To address this possibility, analysis of the role of JH and its signaling pathway was performed in the termite Zootermopsis nevadensis and compared with the wood roach Cryptocercus punctulatus, a membe

SUBMITTER: Masuoka Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6063233 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature