Early behavioral and molecular events leading to caste switching in the ant Harpegnathos.

ABSTRACT: Ant societies show a division of labor in which a queen is in charge of reproduction while nonreproductive workers maintain the colony. In Harpegnathos saltator, workers retain reproductive ability, inhibited by the queen pheromones. Following the queen loss, the colony undergoes social unrest with an antennal dueling tournament. Most workers quickly abandon the tournament while a few workers continue the dueling for months and become gamergates (pseudoqueens). However, the temporal dynamics of the social behavior and molecular mechanisms underlining the caste transition and social dominance remain unclear. By tracking behaviors, we show that the gamergate fate is accurately determined 3 d after initiation of the tournament. To identify genetic factors responsible for this commitmen

SUBMITTER: Opachaloemphan C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7919410 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature