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Published on: October 5, 2018
Ancestral developmental potential facilitates parallel evolution in ants
Rajendhran Rajakumar1, Diego San Mauro, Michiel B Dijkstra
1Department of Biology, McGill University, 1205 Avenue Dr. Penfield, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3A 1B1.
Science (New York, N.Y.)
|January 7, 2012
Summary
Complex ant societies evolved unique worker subcastes. Ancestral developmental potential, retained and environmentally induced, explains the parallel evolution of "supersoldier" ants via genetic accommodation.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary biology
- Developmental biology
- Entomology
Background:
- Advanced ant societies exhibit complex worker caste systems, crucial for their evolutionary success.
- The developmental origins and evolution of specialized worker subcastes remain poorly understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the developmental mechanisms behind the evolution of novel worker subcastes in ants.
- To understand how ancestral developmental potentials are retained and reactivated.
Main Methods:
- Hormonal manipulation experiments in ants.
- Gene expression analysis to identify molecular pathways.
- Phylogenetic analyses to trace evolutionary history.
- Field observations of ant behavior and ecology.
Main Results:
- Identified an ancestral developmental potential for a "supersoldier" subcaste in the genus *Pheidole*.
- This potential has evolved independently at least twice within the genus.
- The potential is retained across species and can be environmentally induced.
Conclusions:
- The retention and environmental induction of ancestral developmental potential facilitate parallel evolution.
- Genetic accommodation is a key process in the evolution of specialized ant subcastes.
- Recurrent induction of ancestral potentials can drive adaptive phenotypic evolution.
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