Epigenetic Regulator CoREST Controls Social Behavior in Ants.

Area of Science:

• Behavioral epigenetics
• Insect social behavior
• Molecular mechanisms of development

Background:

• Ants exhibit diverse phenotypes from a single genome, highlighting epigenetics.
• Camponotus floridanus 'Major' workers can be reprogrammed to forage like 'Minor' workers.

Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate natural behavioral specification using ant reprogramming.
• Identify molecular pathways and epigenetic regulators involved in behavioral switching.

Main Methods:

• Epigenetic reprogramming of 'Major' ants to 'Minor' worker behavior.
• Genome-wide gene expression profiling during reprogramming.
• Analysis of corepressor for element-1-silencing transcription factor (CoREST) and juvenile hormone (JH) pathways.

Main Results:

• Reprogramming upregulates 'Minor'-biased genes and downregulates 'Major'-biased genes.
• CoREST is upregulated and essential for the epigenetic switch to foraging.
• CoREST represses juvenile hormone degraders, leading to elevated JH levels, mirroring natural 'Minor' workers.

Conclusions:

• Chromatin regulation by CoREST is central to programming ant social behavior.
• Parallel molecular mechanisms exist in natural and reprogrammed ant foraging behaviors.
• Findings have implications for understanding behavioral epigenetics across species.