Differences in gene expression patterns between parthenogenetically and sexually produced offspring during early...

Area of Science:

• Molecular Biology
• Evolutionary Biology
• Entomology

Background:

• Social insects display reproductive division of labor, with caste determination influenced by external and internal factors.
• Termites utilize asexual queen succession (AQS), where queens produce new queens via parthenogenesis, while workers and alates result from sexual reproduction.
• Caste differentiation biases may stem from gene expression differences, potentially linked to the parent-of-origin effect due to distinct genomic inheritance patterns.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate gene expression patterns in developing termite embryos.
• To determine if parent-of-origin effects influence caste differentiation biases in Reticulitermes speratus.
• To identify specific genes involved in caste determination and morphogenesis.

Main Methods:

• RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis of female termite embryos post-katatrepsis.
• Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) analysis to assess parent-of-origin effects.
• Comparative analysis of gene expression between parthenogenetic and sexually produced offspring.

Main Results:

• Significant differences in gene expression were observed between parthenogenetic and sexually produced termite embryos.
• SNP analysis did not attribute these expression differences to the parent-of-origin effect, except for mitochondrial genes.
• RNA-seq identified 21 genes, including jhbp, nlk, and wge, with differential expression linked to caste differentiation and morphogenesis.

Conclusions:

• Early developmental gene expression patterns significantly contribute to caste differentiation biases in termites.
• The parent-of-origin effect does not appear to be the primary driver of these caste biases.
• Further research is needed to understand the molecular mechanisms of transgenerational effects on caste determination and AQS evolution.