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Genetically, she looks like her "subject" – yet the queen is known to be a very special ant: she lays eggs while the workers are sterile and take care of everything else. The researchers have now discovered what lies behind the difference between the queen and the people. Surprisingly, the role badignment is apparently based solely on the regulation of a single gene responsible for the production of an important substance: insulin.
Insects forming the state are fascinating evolutionary developments: at a certain point, a "- a community of many individuals that form a kind of superorganism.Especially the ants have become a world power through to this successful concept.Thousands of species have conquered the most diverse habitats of the earth and shape the ecosystems through their activities.An important aspect of their state is the division of labor. "We now wanted to know what mechanisms Molecules make ants of queens and other workers, "says Daniel Kronauer of Rockefeller University, New York.
Tracking the Difference
Different Characteristics of Queens and Workers Based on Different Activity genes in the genetic material of animals In order to discover these "royal" genes, researchers compared the genetic expression of queens and animals. workers of different species of ants. Their results showed that a single gene seems to be the main culprit – it is still highly regulated in queens. According to scientists, this gene is responsible for the production of peptide ILP2 – it's the ant's version of insulin. As in humans, it is probably also responsible for controlling metabolism in insects, the researchers say.
In order to verify whether ILP2 actually plays a role in the difference between animals in the ant state, scientists have conducted experiments with the species. Ooceraea biroi . This species differs from other ants in an interesting aspect: in these, the queen of badignment and the worker speak fluently. If necessary, workers can turn into oviparous ants and vice versa. The transition between the phases is regulated by the presence of larvae: when the offspring are present, the ants stop laying and go into badfeeding mode, transforming them from queens to workers.
Kronauer examined these special ants. and his colleagues are now expressing the genetic makeup of ILP2. It turned out that when the researchers removed the nest larvae during the brood care phase, insulin production in adult animals increased significantly. In contrast, when they added larvae, insulin production declined. This means: The presence of larvae suppresses the production of insulin and therefore reproduction. The function of ILP2 also confirmed another experiment: scientists injected insulin into ants during brood care. This treatment led to ovarian activation – even when many larvae were present.
Evidence of the evolutionary history of ants
According to the researchers, their results now provide important clues to the question of how ants have specialized. Have developed a box. It has already been badumed that it was, in a way, a commitment to one of the behaviors that showed the living ants single ants: they lay eggs and took care of larvae. In the state, these two tasks serve different individuals.
According to the researchers, it seems plausible that insulin production has been recruited to regulate these roles. This substance is already known to regulate reproduction and feeding in a wide range of organisms and also that its level in the body depends on the diet. Exactly this aspect fits well in the picture. The determination of boxes in most ant species is known to be based on the different larval diet for queens – they receive more feed than worker larvae. This probably leads to their formation of more ILP2, ultimately leading to the development of their most important characteristic: reproductive capacity.
Source: Rockefeller University, Science, doi: 10.1126 / science.aar5723
26. July 2018
© science.de – Martin Vieweg
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