ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2015
Molecular signatures of plastic phenotypes in two eusocial insect species with simple societies.
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 107 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
107 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 253 citations in OpenAlex.
- Meta-Analysis of Public RNA Sequencing Data Revealed Potential Key Genes Associated with Reproductive Division of Labor in Social Hymenoptera and Termites.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Pooled it
- Co-expression Gene Networks and Machine-learning Algorithms Unveil a Core Genetic Toolkit for Reproductive Division of Labour in Rudimentary Insect Societies.Genome biology and evolution · 2023Pooled it
- Genome Evolution in Social Insects.Genome biology and evolution · 2026Review
- Gene Expression and Alternative Splicing Regulate Phenotypic Plasticity of a Social Wasp.Ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- Genome-wide and gene-specific DNA methylation across developmental stages in Pogonomyrmex californicus: A socially polymorphic ant.Insect molecular biology · 2026Article
- A rare, evolutionarily conserved venom protein benefits endoparasitism across parasitoids.Cell genomics · 2025Article
- Insights into miRNAs of the Stingless BeeNon-coding RNA · 2025Article
- The eusocial non-code: Unveiling the impact of noncoding RNAs on Hymenoptera eusocial evolution.Non-coding RNA research · 2025Review
- Characterization of DNA methylation reader proteins inGenome research · 2024Article
- Tolerance and efficient metabolization of extremely high ethanol concentrations by a social wasp.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Regulation of insect behavior by non-coding RNAs.Science China. Life sciences · 2024Review
- A genetic toolkit underlying the queen phenotype in termites with totipotent workers.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Molecular signatures of alternative reproductive strategies in a facultatively social hover wasp.Molecular ecology · 2024Article
- 5mC modification orchestrates choriogenesis and fertilization by preventing prolonged ftz-f1 expression.Nature communications · 2023Article
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- Evolution of five environmentally responsive gene families in a pine-feeding sawfly,Ecology and evolution · 2023Article
- Galba: genome annotation with miniprot and AUGUSTUS.BMC bioinformatics · 2023Article
- Integrated Analysis of DNA Methylome and Transcriptome Reveals Epigenetic Regulation of Cold Tolerance inInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- Putting hornets on the genomic map.Scientific reports · 2023Article
47 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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26 authors at 10 institutions in 7 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Phenotypic plasticity is important in adaptation and shapes the evolution of organisms. However, we understand little about what aspects of the genome are important in facilitating plasticity. Eusocial insect societies produce plastic phenotypes from the same genome, as reproductives (queens) and nonreproductives (workers). The greatest plasticity is found in the simple eusocial insect societies in which individuals retain the ability to switch between reproductive and nonreproductive phenotypes as adults. We lack comprehensive data on the molecular basis of plastic phenotypes. Here, we sequenced genomes, microRNAs (miRNAs), and multiple transcriptomes and methylomes from individual brains in a wasp (Polistes canadensis) and an ant (Dinoponera quadriceps) that live in simple eusocial societies. In both species, we found few differences between phenotypes at the transcriptional level, with little functional specialization, and no evidence that phenotype-specific gene expression is driven by DNA methylation or miRNAs. Instead, phenotypic differentiation was defined more subtly by nonrandom transcriptional network organization, with roles in these networks for both conserved and taxon-restricted genes. The general lack of highly methylated regions or methylome patterning in both species may be an important mechanism for achieving plasticity among phenotypes during adulthood. These findings define previously unidentified hypotheses on the genomic processes that facilitate plasticity and suggest that the molecular hallmarks of social behavior are likely to differ with the level of social complexity.
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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.