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La expresión génica de las avispas apoya un vínculo evolutivo entre el comportamiento materno y la eusocialidad
Amy L Toth1, Kranthi Varala, Thomas C Newman
1Department of Entomology and Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA. amytoth@uiuc.edu
Science (New York, N.Y.)
|September 29, 2007
Resumen
La expresión génica de las avispas obreras se asemeja a la atención materna, no a las castas reproductivas. Esto sugiere que la eusocialidad evolucionó a partir del cuidado materno, involucrando las principales vías genéticas nutricionales y reproductivas.
Área de la Ciencia:
- Biología evolutiva Biología evolutiva.
- Genética del comportamiento genética del comportamiento.
- Comportamiento de los insectos.
Sus antecedentes:
- La eusocialidad, caracterizada por trabajadores no reproductivos que cuidan a sus hermanos, es un rompecabezas evolutivo clave.
- Una hipótesis principal sugiere que el comportamiento del trabajador se origina en el cuidado materno.
Objetivo del estudio:
- Para investigar los orígenes evolutivos de la eusocialidad mediante el examen de la expresión génica en la avispa eusocial primitiva, Polistes metricus.
- Para probar la hipótesis de que el comportamiento del trabajador evolucionó a partir del cuidado materno.
Principales métodos:
- Se utilizó la secuenciación 454 para generar lecturas complementarias de ADN de los cerebros de Polistes metricus.
- Identificó y analizó ortólogos de 32 genes relacionados con el comportamiento de las abejas.
- Comparó patrones de expresión génica entre obreras, fundadoras, reinas y ginecólogas.
Principales resultados:
- La expresión génica del cerebro de la avispa en las trabajadoras era más similar a las fundadoras (cuidado materno) que a las reinas o las ginecas (cuidado no materno).
- Los genes regulados diferencialmente incluyeron genes relacionados con la insulina.
- Esto indica un vínculo entre las vías nutricionales y reproductivas en la evolución de la eusocialidad.
Conclusiones:
- Los hallazgos apoyan la hipótesis de que el comportamiento de los trabajadores en los insectos eusociales evolucionó a partir del cuidado materno.
- La evolución de la eusocialidad probablemente implicó alteraciones significativas en la regulación de los genes nutricionales y reproductivos.
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