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

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Serval ID
serval:BIB_AF079F331824
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Publication sub-type
Letter (letter): Communication to the publisher.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
New explanation for the longevity of social insect reproductives: Transposable element activity.
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Author(s)
Lucas E.R., Keller L.
ISSN
1091-6490 (Electronic)
ISSN-L
0027-8424
Publication state
Published
Issued date
2018
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
115
Number
21
Pages
5317-5318
Language
english
Abstract
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.
Keywords
Ageing genes, Gene expression, Immunity, RNA sequencing, Social insects, Superoxide dismutase
Pubmed
Web of science
Open Access
Yes
Create date
22/05/2018 14:36
Last modification date
20/08/2019 15:18
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