Late-life fitness gains and reproductive death in Cardiocondyla obscurior ants.

ABSTRACT: A key hypothesis for the occurrence of senescence is the decrease in selection strength due to the decrease in the proportion of newborns from parents attaining an advanced age - the so-called selection shadow. Strikingly, queens of social insects have long lifespans and reproductive senescence seems to be negligible. By lifelong tracking of 99 Cardiocondyla obscurior (Formicidae: Myrmicinae) ant colonies, we find that queens shift to the production of sexuals in late life regardless of their absolute lifespan or the number of workers present. Furthermore, RNAseq analyses of old queens past their peak of reproductive performance showed the development of massive pathology while queens were still fertile, leading to rapid death. We conclude that the evolution of superorganismality is

SUBMITTER: Jaimes-Nino LM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8986319 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature