Project description:Using an organ-specific RNA-sequencing approach, we explore the role of supergene genotype and social environment on unmated, reproductive females Solenopsis invicta ants as they depart on their mating flights.
Project description:Harvester ants (genus Pogonomyrmex) are notable for their stings which cause intense, long-lasting pain and other neurotoxic symptoms in vertebrates. Here we show that harvester ant venoms are relatively simple and composed largely of peptide toxins. One class of peptides is primarily responsible for the long-lasting local pain of envenomation. These hydrophobic, cysteine-free peptides activate mammalian sensory neurons via potent modulation of voltage-gated sodium (NaV) channels, reducing voltage threshold for activation and inhibiting channel inactivation. These toxins appear to have evolved specifically as deterrents against vertebrates.
Project description:In fire ants, a complex colony level phenotype, colony queen number, is completely associated with a single Mendelian factor marked by the gene Gp-9. The first aim of this study was to investigate whether variation in the genomic region marked by Gp-9 is associated with differences in patterns of expression of genes other than Gp-9 in workers. The second aim was to study how the social environment (i.e., presence or absence of nestmate workers with the b allele) can alter individual gene expression patterns. Keywords: Genotype comparison and social form comparison
Project description:Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a heterogenous neurodevelopmental disorder with complex pathophysiology including both genetic and environmental factors. Recent evidence demonstrates the gut microbiome and its resultant metabolome can influence brain and behavior and have been implicated in ASD. To investigate gene by microbiome interactions in a model for genetic risk of ASD, we utilize mutant mice carrying a deletion of the ASD-associated Shank3 gene (Shank3KO). Shank3KO have altered microbiome composition and function at baseline in addition to social deficits. Further depletion of the microbiome with antibiotics exacerbates social deficits in Shank3KO, and results in transcriptional changes in the frontal cortex. Supplementation with the microbial metabolite acetate leads to reversal of social behavioral phenotypes even in mice with a depleted microbiome, and significantly alters transcriptional regulation in the prefrontal cortex. These results suggest a key role for the gut microbiome and the neuroactive metabolite acetate in regulating ASD-like behaviors.
Project description:Lead Exposure and Human Brain Evolution: A 2-Million-Year Perspective This study reveals that lead exposure was pervasive throughout human evolution, not just a modern phenomenon. Researchers analyzed 51 fossil teeth from multiple hominid species spanning 2+ million years across three continents, finding lead exposure evidence in 73% of specimens using advanced laser ablation mass spectrometry. The team then used human brain organoids carrying either modern or archaic (Neanderthal-like) variants of the NOVA1 gene to test lead's neurological impacts. They discovered that the archaic variant showed greater vulnerability to lead-induced disruption of FOXP2 expression—a gene crucial for speech and language development. This suggests environmental lead exposure may have created evolutionary pressure favoring the modern human NOVA1 variant, potentially giving our species advantages in communication and social cohesion. The research challenges established paradigms about both environmental toxin history and human evolution, proposing that gene-environment interactions with neurotoxins helped shape our species' cognitive development over millions of years.
Project description:Animal longevity widely differs across species, and even individuals from the same species may exhibit different rates of ageing. In different species, the rate at which individuals actually age is related to the level of their social interactions, but this was still not known in ants. In a given colony, ant individuals are close genetic relatives, exhibit very different behaviours and a contrasted lifespan according to the Caste. Such characteristics constitute main advantages to study relationships between sociality and ageing. Therefore, the aim of this study was to characterize differences in the proteome of Lasius niger queens versus that of domestic and foraging workers. Proteomic data were put in relation with the behaviour of individuals from the three Castes. Hence, it was found that sociality correlates with ant longevity, with i) social immunity enabling the queen to mainly invest in soma protection, and ii) marked exposition of workers to the environment and nutrients inducing metabolic pathways that reduce their lifespan.
Project description:Transcriptomes of dissected brains from alate virgin and de-alate mated queens from polygyne fire ants were analyzed and compared. Four replicates of each condition were obtained. Thirteen genes were upregulated in mated queen brain and nine were downregulated. We found that for four differentially expressed genes in brain selected for qPCR analyses, changes in gene expression were most likely driven by the changes in physiological state (i.e. age, nutritional status or dominance rank) or in social environment (released from influence of primer pheromone).
Project description:The aging of mammalian epigenomes fundamentally alters cellular functions, implicating organismal fitness and disease risk. However, the studies of this process typically use mouse models in the laboratory environment and neglect the impact of variation in social, physical, microbial, and other aspects of the living environment. We examined the aging differences between lab mice and “re-wilded” mice, which are C57BL6/J mice reintroduced into a controlled field environment with enhanced realism. Systematic analysis of age-associated methylation dynamics in the liver tissues suggests a genomic region-conditioned, faster epigenetic aging rate in field mice than in lab mice, implicating a 3D genome conformation change. The predicted age of lab mice by epigenetic clocks is closer to their actual age than that of field mice. These observations underscore the overlooked role of the social and physical environment in epigenetic aging.
Project description:DNA methylation is an important chromatin modification that is necessary for the structural integrity and proper regulation of the genome for many species. Despite its conservation across the tree of life, little is known about its contribution to complex traits. Reports that differences in DNA methylation between castes in closely related Hymenopteran insects (ants, bees and wasps) contributes to social behaviors has generated hypotheses on the role of DNA methylation in governing social behavior. However, social behavior has evolved multiple times across insecta, and a common role of DNA methylation in social behavior remains outstanding. Using phylogenetic comparative methods we sought to better understand patterns of DNA methylation and social behavior across insects. DNA methylation can be found in social and solitary insects from all orders, except Diptera (flies), which suggests a shared loss of DNA methylation within this order. The lack of DNA methylation is reflected in the absence of the maintenance and de novo DNA methyltransferases (DNMT) 1 and 3, respectively. Interestingly, DNA methylation is found in species without DNMT3. DNA methylation and social behavior (social/solitary) or with division of labor (caste+/caste–) for 123 insect species analyzed from 11 orders are not evolutionary dependent, which is further supported by sequencing of DNA methylomes from 40 species.