ArticleProceedings. Biological sciences2012
Male reproductive fitness and queen polyandry are linked to variation in the supergene Gp-9 in the fire ant Solenopsis invicta.
Article in Proceedings. Biological sciences, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers.
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21 citing papers in PubMed, 44 citations in OpenAlex.
- Developmental bias of body size and caste by the fire ant social supergene.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2026Article
- Genome Evolution in Social Insects.Genome biology and evolution · 2026Review
- Sequential origin of an alternative colony founding strategy driven by two supergenes in Temnothorax ants.Molecular biology and evolution · 2026Article
- A Comprehensive Account of the Breeding Systems of the Fire AntEcology and evolution · 2025Article
- Supergene regulation of ant social organization: a P haplotype in workers shifts colony ontogeny towards multiple queens.Communications biology · 2025Article
- Biased social chromosome transmission in males of the fire ant Solenopsis invicta.G3 (Bethesda, Md.) · 2025Article
- A supergene-controlling social structure in Alpine ants also affects the dispersal ability and fecundity of each sex.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2024Article
- A socially polymorphic Formica ant species exhibits a novel distribution of social supergene genotypes.Journal of evolutionary biology · 2022Article
- Social isolation and group size are associated with divergent gene expression in the brain of ant queens.Genes, brain, and behavior · 2022Article
- Male fire ant neurotransmitter precursors trigger reproductive development in females after mating.Communications biology · 2021Article
- Population Genetic and Social Structure Survey ofZoological studies · 2020Article
- Strategies of the invasive tropical fire ant (Solenopsis geminata) to minimize inbreeding costs.Scientific reports · 2019Article
- Article
- Unexpected patterns of segregation distortion at a selfish supergene in the fire ant Solenopsis invicta.BMC genetics · 2018Article
- Fire ant social chromosomes: Differences in number, sequence and expression of odorant binding proteins.Evolution letters · 2017Article
- The fire ant social chromosome supergene variant Sb shows low diversity but high divergence from SB.Molecular ecology · 2017Article
- Intraspecific Variation among Social Insect Colonies: Persistent Regional and Colony-Level Differences in Fire Ant Foraging Behavior.PloS one · 2015Article
- Can patterns of chromosome inversions in Drosophila pseudoobscura predict polyandry across a geographical cline?Ecology and evolution · 2014Article
- Ant genomics sheds light on the molecular regulation of social organization.Genome biology · 2013Review
- The dynamic relationship between polyandry and selfish genetic elements.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2013Review
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3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Supergenes are clusters of tightly linked loci maintained in specific allelic combinations to facilitate co-segregation of genes governing adaptive phenotypes. In species where strong selection potentially operates at different levels (e.g. eusocial Hymenoptera), positive selection acting within a population to maintain specific allelic combinations in supergenes may have unexpected consequences for some individuals, including the preservation of disadvantageous traits. The nuclear gene Gp-9 in the invasive fire ant Solenopsis invicta is part of a non-recombining, polymorphic supergene region associated with polymorphism in social organization as well as traits affecting physiology, fecundity and behaviour. We show that both male reproductive success and facultative polyandry in queens have a simple genetic basis and are dependent on male Gp-9 genotype. Gp-9(b) males are unable to maintain exclusive reproductive control over their mates such that queens mated to Gp-9(b) males remain highly receptive to remating. Queens mated to multiple Gp-9(B) males are rare. This difference appears to be independent of mating plug production in fertile males of each Gp-9 genotype. However, Gp-9(b) males have significantly lower sperm counts than Gp-9(B) males, which could be a cue to females to seek additional mates. Despite the reduced fitness of Gp-9(b) males, polygyne worker-induced selective mortality of sexuals lacking b-like alleles coupled with the overall success of the polygyne social form act to maintain the Gp-9(b) allele within nature. Our findings highlight how strong worker-induced selection acting to maintain the Gp-9(b) allele in the polygyne social form may simultaneously result in reduced reproductive fitness for individual sexual offspring.
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