Antagonistic pleiotropy and the evolution of extraordinary lifespans in eusocial organisms.

ABSTRACT: Queens of eusocial species live extraordinarily long compared to their workers. So far, it has been argued that these lifespan divergences are readily explained by the classical evolutionary theory of ageing. As workers predominantly perform risky tasks, such as foraging and nest defense, and queens stay in the well-protected nests, selection against harmful genetic mutations expressed in old age should be weaker in workers than in queens due to caste differences in extrinsic mortality risk, and thus, lead to the evolution of longer queen and shorter worker lifespans. However, these arguments have not been supported by formal models. Here, we present a model for the evolution of caste-specific ageing in social insects, based on Williams' antagonistic pleiotropy theory of ageing. In individ

SUBMITTER: Kreider JJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8190452 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature