Abstract
The fate of a social insect colony is partially determined by its ability to allocate individuals to the caste most appropriate for the requirements for growth, maintenance, and reproduction. In pairs of dependent lineages of Pogonomyrmex barbatus, the allocation of individuals to the queen or worker caste is constrained by genotype, a system known as genetic caste determination (GCD). In mature GCD colonies, interlineage female eggs develop into sterile workers, while intralineage eggs become reproductively capable queens. Although the population-level consequences of this system have been intensively studied, the proximate mechanisms for GCD remain unknown. To elucidate these mechanisms, we brought newly mated queens into the laboratory and allowed them to establish colonies, nearly half of which unexpectedly produced virgin queens only seven months after colony founding. We genotyped eggs, workers, and the virgin queens from these colonies. Our results showed that queens in young colonies produce both interlineage and intralineage eggs, demonstrating that queens of GCD colonies indiscriminately use sperm of at least two lineages to fertilize their eggs. Intralineage eggs were more frequent in colonies producing virgin queens. These findings suggest that intralineage eggs are predetermined to become queens and that workers may cull these eggs when colonies are not producing queens. Virgin queens produced by young GCD colonies were smaller than field-caught virgin queens, and often had developmental problems. Hence, they are probably nonfunctional and represent an intense resource drain for developing colonies, not a contribution to colony fitness.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 2201-2206 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Ecology |
| Volume | 87 |
| Issue number | 9 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2006 |
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Keywords
- Genetic caste determination
- Pogonomyrmex barbatus
- Reproduction
- Social insects
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Ecology
Cite this
Behavioral regulation of genetic caste determination in a Pogonomyrmex population with dependent lineages. / Clark, Rebecca M.; Anderson, Kirk E.; Gadau, Juergen; Fewell, Jennifer.
In: Ecology, Vol. 87, No. 9, 2006, p. 2201-2206.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Behavioral regulation of genetic caste determination in a Pogonomyrmex population with dependent lineages
AU - Clark, Rebecca M.
AU - Anderson, Kirk E.
AU - Gadau, Juergen
AU - Fewell, Jennifer
PY - 2006
Y1 - 2006
N2 - The fate of a social insect colony is partially determined by its ability to allocate individuals to the caste most appropriate for the requirements for growth, maintenance, and reproduction. In pairs of dependent lineages of Pogonomyrmex barbatus, the allocation of individuals to the queen or worker caste is constrained by genotype, a system known as genetic caste determination (GCD). In mature GCD colonies, interlineage female eggs develop into sterile workers, while intralineage eggs become reproductively capable queens. Although the population-level consequences of this system have been intensively studied, the proximate mechanisms for GCD remain unknown. To elucidate these mechanisms, we brought newly mated queens into the laboratory and allowed them to establish colonies, nearly half of which unexpectedly produced virgin queens only seven months after colony founding. We genotyped eggs, workers, and the virgin queens from these colonies. Our results showed that queens in young colonies produce both interlineage and intralineage eggs, demonstrating that queens of GCD colonies indiscriminately use sperm of at least two lineages to fertilize their eggs. Intralineage eggs were more frequent in colonies producing virgin queens. These findings suggest that intralineage eggs are predetermined to become queens and that workers may cull these eggs when colonies are not producing queens. Virgin queens produced by young GCD colonies were smaller than field-caught virgin queens, and often had developmental problems. Hence, they are probably nonfunctional and represent an intense resource drain for developing colonies, not a contribution to colony fitness.
AB - The fate of a social insect colony is partially determined by its ability to allocate individuals to the caste most appropriate for the requirements for growth, maintenance, and reproduction. In pairs of dependent lineages of Pogonomyrmex barbatus, the allocation of individuals to the queen or worker caste is constrained by genotype, a system known as genetic caste determination (GCD). In mature GCD colonies, interlineage female eggs develop into sterile workers, while intralineage eggs become reproductively capable queens. Although the population-level consequences of this system have been intensively studied, the proximate mechanisms for GCD remain unknown. To elucidate these mechanisms, we brought newly mated queens into the laboratory and allowed them to establish colonies, nearly half of which unexpectedly produced virgin queens only seven months after colony founding. We genotyped eggs, workers, and the virgin queens from these colonies. Our results showed that queens in young colonies produce both interlineage and intralineage eggs, demonstrating that queens of GCD colonies indiscriminately use sperm of at least two lineages to fertilize their eggs. Intralineage eggs were more frequent in colonies producing virgin queens. These findings suggest that intralineage eggs are predetermined to become queens and that workers may cull these eggs when colonies are not producing queens. Virgin queens produced by young GCD colonies were smaller than field-caught virgin queens, and often had developmental problems. Hence, they are probably nonfunctional and represent an intense resource drain for developing colonies, not a contribution to colony fitness.
KW - Genetic caste determination
KW - Pogonomyrmex barbatus
KW - Reproduction
KW - Social insects
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33748575581&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=33748575581&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1890/0012-9658(2006)87[2201:BROGCD]2.0.CO;2
DO - 10.1890/0012-9658(2006)87[2201:BROGCD]2.0.CO;2
M3 - Article
VL - 87
SP - 2201
EP - 2206
JO - Ecology
JF - Ecology
SN - 0012-9658
IS - 9
ER -