Yoshinobu Hayashi1, Nathan Lo, Hitoshi Miyata

  • 1Natural History Laboratory, College of Science, Ibaraki University, Mito, Ibaraki 310-8512, Japan.

Science (New York, N.Y.)
|November 10, 2007
PubMed
まとめ

termite カストの開発は,環境のみではありません. 遺伝的要因は, termies が生殖者または労働者になるかどうかに大きく影響し,これらの生態学的に成功した昆虫の複雑な遺伝パターンを明らかにします.

関連する概念動画

Background and Environment Affect Phenotype02:27

Background and Environment Affect Phenotype

Although the genetic makeup of an organism plays a major role in determining the phenotype, there are also several environmental factors, such as temperature, oxygen availability, presence of mutagens, that can alter an organism’s phenotype.
An example of how genetic background affects phenotype can be seen in horses. The Extension gene in horses is responsible for their coat color. A wild-type gene (EE) produces black pigment in the coat, while a mutant gene (ee) produces red pigment. A...
The Ratio of X Chromosome to Autosomes02:45

The Ratio of X Chromosome to Autosomes

In most organisms, sex is determined by the ratio of X and Y chromosomes. However, in some organisms, such as Drosophila and C.elegans, sex is determined by the ratio of the number of X chromosomes to the number of sets of autosomes. The Y chromosome in Drosophila is active but does not determine sex. It contains genes responsible for the production of sperms in adult flies.  
Normal male Drosophila has a ratio of one X chromosome to two sets of autosomes. In contrast, normal female Drosophila...
Dosage Compensation02:50

Dosage Compensation

In animals, gender is determined by the number and type of sex chromosome. For example, human females have two X chromosomes, and males have one X and one Y chromosome, whereas C.elegans with one X chromosome is a male, and the one with two X chromosomes is a hermaphrodite.
In addition to sexual development, the X chromosome has genes involved in autosomal functions such as brain development and the immune system. Therefore, males and females with  distinct numbers of X chromosomes will have...