ArticleGenetics research international2012
Epigenetics in social insects: a new direction for understanding the evolution of castes.
Article in Genetics research international, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
33 citing papers in PubMed, 100 citations in OpenAlex.
- Polyphenism Through RNA Chemical Modifications.Molecular ecology · 2026Review
- EpiBrain: the brain's epigenetic landscape in a snapshot.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Genome-wide DNA methylation patterns in bumble bee (Bombus vosnesenskii) populations from spatial-environmental range extremes.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- DNMT1 mutant ants develop normally but have disrupted oogenesis.Nature communications · 2023Article
- Genome-Wide Identification and Expression Pattern of Cytochrome P450 Genes in the Social AphidInsects · 2023Article
- Gut microbiota is a potential factor in shaping phenotypic variation in larvae and adults of female bumble bees.Frontiers in microbiology · 2023Article
- Computational modelling of plasticity-led evolution.Biophysical reviews · 2022Review
- Association between parasite microbiomes and caste development and colony structure in a social trematode.Molecular ecology · 2022Article
- Dynamic changes in genomic 5-hydroxymethyluracil and N6-methyladenine levels in the Drosophila melanogaster life cycle and in response to different temperature conditions.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Conservation Biology and Reproduction in a Time of Developmental Plasticity.Biomolecules · 2022Review
- DNA methylation across the tree of life, from micro to macro-organism.Bioengineered · 2022Article
- Parent-of-origin effects, allele-specific expression, genomic imprinting and paternal manipulation in social insects.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2021Review
- Insects Provide Unique Systems to Investigate How Early-Life Experience Alters the Brain and Behavior.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2021Review
- High-quality chromosome-level genome assembly and full-length transcriptome analysis of the pharaoh ant Monomorium pharaonis.GigaScience · 2020Article
- Epigenetic Molecular Mechanisms in Insects.Neotropical entomology · 2020Review
- Evolutionary relationship of fat body endoreduplication and queen fecundity in termites.Ecology and evolution · 2019Article
- Unique DNA Methylation Profiles Are Associated with cis-Variation in Honey Bees.Genome biology and evolution · 2019Article
- Evolution, phylogenetic distribution and functional ecology of division of labour in trematodes.Parasites & vectors · 2019Review
- Caste-Specific Expression of NaNeotropical entomology · 2018Article
- Honey bees consider larval nutritional status rather than genetic relatedness when selecting larvae for emergency queen rearing.Scientific reports · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Epigenetic modifications to DNA, such as DNA methylation, can expand a genome's regulatory flexibility, and thus may contribute to the evolution of phenotypic plasticity. Recent work has demonstrated the importance of DNA methylation in alternative queen and worker "castes" in social insects, particularly honeybees. Social insects are an excellent system for addressing questions about epigenetics and evolution because: (1) they have dramatic caste polyphenisms that appear to be tied to differential methylation, (2) DNA methylation is widespread in various groups of social insects, and (3) there are intriguing connections between the social environment and DNA methylation in many species, from insects to mammals. In this article, we review research on honeybees, and, when available, other social insects, on DNA methylation and queen and worker caste differences. We outline a conceptual framework for the effects of methylation on caste determination in honeybees that may help guide studies of epigenetic regulation in other polyphenic taxa. Finally, we suggest future paths of study for social insect epigenetic research, including the importance of comparative studies of DNA methylation on a broader range of species, and highlight some key unanswered mechanistic questions about how DNA methylation affects gene regulation.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.