New explanation for the longevity of social insect reproductives: Transposable element activity.

Détails

Ressource 1Télécharger: 5317.full.pdf (509.43 [Ko])
Etat: Public
Version: de l'auteur⸱e
ID Serval
serval:BIB_AF079F331824
Type
Article: article d'un périodique ou d'un magazine.
Sous-type
Lettre (letter): communication adressée à l'éditeur.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Titre
New explanation for the longevity of social insect reproductives: Transposable element activity.
Périodique
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Auteur⸱e⸱s
Lucas E.R., Keller L.
ISSN
1091-6490 (Electronic)
ISSN-L
0027-8424
Statut éditorial
Publié
Date de publication
2018
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
115
Numéro
21
Pages
5317-5318
Langue
anglais
Résumé
Studies in model organisms have identified a variety of genes whose expression can be experimentally modulated to produce changes in longevity, but whether these genes are the same as those involved in natural variation in lifespan remains unclear. Social insects boast some of the largest lifespan differences known between plastic phenotypes, with queen and worker lifespans differing by an order of magnitude despite no systematic nucleotide sequence differences between them. The contrasting lifespans of queens and workers are thus the result of differences in gene expression. We used RNA sequencing of brains and legs in 1-day-old and 2-month-old individuals of the ant Lasius niger to determine whether genes with queen-biased expression are enriched for genes linked to ageing in model organisms. Because the great longevity of queens may require investment into immune processes, we also investigated whether queen-biased genes are enriched for genes with known roles in immunity. Queen-biased genes in legs were enriched for ageing genes and for genes associated with increasing rather than decreasing lifespan. Queen-biased genes in legs were also enriched for immune genes, but only in 1-day-old individuals, perhaps linked to the changing roles of workers with age. Intriguingly, the single most differentially expressed gene between 1-day-old queen and worker brains was an extra-cellular form of CuZn Superoxide Dismutase (SOD3), raising the possibility of an important role of anti-oxidant genes in modulating lifespan.
Mots-clé
Ageing genes, Gene expression, Immunity, RNA sequencing, Social insects, Superoxide dismutase
Pubmed
Web of science
Open Access
Oui
Création de la notice
22/05/2018 14:36
Dernière modification de la notice
20/08/2019 15:18
Données d'usage