We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Gene regulation supporting sociality shared across lineages and variation in complexity.
- Authors
Pyenson, Benjamin C.; Rehan, Sandra M.
- Abstract
Across evolutionary lineages, insects vary in social complexity, from those that exhibit extended parental care to those with elaborate divisions of labor. Here, we synthesize the sociogenomic resources from hundreds of species to describe common gene regulatory mechanisms in insects that regulate social organization across phylogeny and levels of social complexity. Different social phenotypes expressed by insects can be linked to the organization of co-expressing gene networks and features of the epigenetic landscape. Insect sociality also stems from processes like the emergence of parental care and the decoupling of ancestral genetic programs. One underexplored avenue is how variation in a group's social environment affects the gene expression of individuals. Additionally, an experimental reduction of gene expression would demonstrate how the activity of specific genes contributes to insect social phenotypes. While tissue specificity provides greater localization of the gene expression underlying social complexity, emerging transcriptomic analysis of insect brains at the cellular level provides even greater resolution to understand the molecular basis of social insect evolution.
- Subjects
GENETIC regulation; INSECT evolution; GENE regulatory networks; GENE expression; REGULATOR genes; INSECT societies
- Publication
Genome, 2024, Vol 67, Issue 4, p99
- ISSN
0831-2796
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1139/gen-2023-0054