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| Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2015 Oct 19. pii: 1515937112. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1515937112. pmc: PMC4653166 |
| Molecular signatures of plastic phenotypes in two eusocial insect species with simple societies. |
| Patalano S1, Vlasova A2, Wyatt C3, Ewels P4, Camara F5, Ferreira PG6, Asher CL7, Jurkowski TP8, Segonds-Pichon A9, Bachman M10, González-Navarrete I11, Minoche AE12, Krueger F13, Lowy E14, Marcet-Houben M15, Rodriguez-Ales JL16, Nascimento FS17, Balasubramanian S18, Gabaldon T19, Tarver JE20, Andrews S21, Himmelbauer H22, Hughes WO23, Guigó R24, Reik W25, Sumner S26 |
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Abstract Phenotypic plasticity is important in adaptation and shapes the evolution of organisms. However, we understand little about what aspects of the genome are important in facilitating plasticity. Eusocial insect societies produce plastic phenotypes from the same genome, as reproductives (queens) and nonreproductives (workers). The greatest plasticity is found in the simple eusocial insect societies in which individuals retain the ability to switch between reproductive and nonreproductive phenotypes as adults. We lack comprehensive data on the molecular basis of plastic phenotypes. Here, we sequenced genomes, microRNAs (miRNAs), and multiple transcriptomes and methylomes from individual brains in a wasp (Polistes canadensis) and an ant (Dinoponera quadriceps) that live in simple eusocial societies. In both species, we found few differences between phenotypes at the transcriptional level, with little functional specialization, and no evidence that phenotype-specific gene expression is driven by DNA methylation or miRNAs. Instead, phenotypic differentiation was defined more subtly by nonrandom transcriptional network organization, with roles in these networks for both conserved and taxon-restricted genes. The general lack of highly methylated regions or methylome patterning in both species may be an important mechanism for achieving plasticity among phenotypes during adulthood. These findings define previously unidentified hypotheses on the genomic processes that facilitate plasticity and suggest that the molecular hallmarks of social behavior are likely to differ with the level of social complexity. |
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KEYWORDS: DNA methylation, genome sequencing, phenotypic plasticity, social evolution, transcriptomes |
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Publikations ID: 26483466 Quelle: öffnen |
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