Genes Play the Role of Hierarchy in Ants

Has it ever happened to you as to what decides the division of labour and roles in an ant colony, known to be highly organised? The genes play this role, reveals research.

Evolutionary biologists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) in Germany came to this conclusion in a recent gene expression study.

Infants Know Plants are Food Sources, but Need to See They're Safe to Eat
Infants as young as six months old tend to expect that plants are food sources, but only after an adult shows them that the food is safe to eat.

An ant colony generally consists of a queen and the workers. The workers can differ depending on the task they perform, such as brood care, foraging or nest defence.

While queens are solely responsible for reproduction, in some species there are also soldier ants.

The divergent phenotypic traits of queens and workers develop from the same genetic background.

New Insight into Double-lung Transplants
New study conducted by Temple University School of Medicine researchers has shed light on double-lung transplants.

"We have here the ideal model system to study polyphenism, which describes the situation in which one and the same genotype gives rise to phenotypes that differ in terms of individual morphology, behaviour and life history," said Barbara Feldmeyer from JGU's institute of zoology.

If in a nest, the queen dies or is removed, some brood-care workers will develop their ovaries and begin to reproduce.

Antioxidants Speed Lung Cancer Growth in Mice Suggests Research
People who smoke or have lung cancer should think twice about taking vitamin supplements, suggests a Swedish study that showed certain antioxidants may make tumors grow faster.

It was this phenomenon that the scientists exploited in order to induce fertility in brood-care workers in the ant species known as temnothorax longispinosus.

They compared these fertile workers with infertile brood-carers, foragers and the queens to determine the expression of genes causing the enormous variations in behaviour, fertility and life span.

Accidents By ADHD Drivers Can Be Prevented With Stimulants
Traffic accidents by adult men with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder can be prevented by regular intake of their prescribed medicines, revealed a Swedish study on Wednesday.

The largest differences in gene expression were found between the queen and the worker castes, while the smallest differences were determined between the infertile brood carers and the foragers.

The fertile brood care workers occupy an intermediate position between the queen and the sterile workers.

The ant queens expressed many caste-specific genes whose functions were known from comparisons with other species.

This is not the case for the workers in which about half of the characteristic genes were found to be of unknown function.

"Either these worker genes have undergone major modifications or they are novel genes," explained Feldmeyer.

Source-IANS