Overview
Many exciting studies have begun to elucidate the genetics of the morphological and physiological diversity of ants, but as yet few studies have investigated the genetics of ant behavior directly. Ant genomes are marked by extreme rates of gene turnover, especially in gene families related to olfactory communication, such as the synthesis of cuticular hydrocarbons and the perception of environmental semiochemicals. Transcriptomic and epigenetic differences are apparent between reproductive and sterile females, males and females, and workers that differ in body size. Quantitative genetic approaches suggest heritability of task performance, and population genetic studies indicate a genetic association with reproductive status in some species. Gene expression is associated with behavior including foraging, response to queens attempting to join a colony, circadian patterns of task performance, and age-related changes of task. Ant behavioral genetics needs further investigation of the feedback between individual-level physiological changes and socially mediated responses to environmental conditions.
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Methods and contributions
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Findings and contributions
- The authors conclude that despite many results on reproductive physiology and morphology, few studies have investigated the genetics of ant behavior directly.
- The review reports that eusocial hymenopteran genomes show exceptionally high rates of gene turnover.
- Reviewed quantitative genetic studies show heritable differences in task performance among matrilines/patrilines.
- The authors argue that genetic studies of ant behavior will need to be aware of how variables such as developmental stage, sampled tissue and time of day affect results.
- They identify the feedback between individual physiological changes and socially mediated responses to environment as the next step for ant behavioral genetics.
Methods
- Literature review organized by phenotypic trait — Structures the review of ant genetics by trait: species comparisons, sex, reproductive status, queen number, worker body size, then behavior.
- Coverage of quantitative-genetic, phylogenetic, omic and physiological studies — Within each section, discusses studies using heritability, DNA sequence homology, RNA abundance, chromatin regulation and enzyme-activity approaches.
- Comparative survey of published ant genomes — Draws on the first seven published ant genomes and later public genomes/transcriptomes for cross-species comparisons.
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