Differential gene expression between queens and workers in the ant Lasius niger

Details

Serval ID
serval:BIB_181662B568B2
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Title
Differential gene expression between queens and workers in the ant Lasius niger
Journal
Molecular Ecology
Author(s)
Gräff  J., Jemielity  S., Parker  J. D., Parker  K. M., Keller  L.
Publication state
Published
Issued date
02/2007
Volume
16
Number
3
Pages
675-683
Language
english
Abstract
Ants and other social insects forming large societies are generally characterized by marked reproductive division of labour. Queens largely monopolize reproduction whereas workers have little reproductive potential. In addition, some social insect species show tremendous lifespan differences between the queen and worker caste. Remarkably, queens and workers are usually genotypically identical, meaning that any phenotypic differences between the two castes arise from caste-specific gene expression. Using a combination of differential display, microarrays and reverse Northern blots, we found 16 genes that were differentially expressed between adult queens and workers in the ant Lasius niger, a species with highly pronounced reproductive division of labour and a several-fold lifespan difference between queens and workers. RNA ligase mediated rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RLM-RACE) and gene walking were used to further characterize these genes. On the basis of the molecular function of their nearest homologues, three genes appear to be involved in reproductive division of labour. Another three genes, which were exclusively overexpressed in queens, are possibly involved in the maintenance and repair of the soma, a candidate mechanism for lifespan determination. In-depth functional analyses of these genes are now needed to reveal their exact role.
Keywords
ageing, caste-specific gene expression, immune defence, Lasius niger, reproductive division of labour, somatic maintenance
Create date
19/11/2007 9:39
Last modification date
20/08/2019 12:48
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