ArticleBiology letters2016
Queen pheromones modulate DNA methyltransferase activity in bee and ant workers.
Article in Biology letters, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- Contrasting epigenetics of Ixodes scapularis populations.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Social communication activates the circadian gene Tctimeless in Tribolium castaneum.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Review
- Genetic basis of chemical communication in eusocial insects.Genes & development · 2021Review
- Queen pheromone modulates the expression of epigenetic modifier genes in the brain of honeybee workers.Biology letters · 2020Article
- Epigenetic Molecular Mechanisms in Insects.Neotropical entomology · 2020Review
- Pheromonal Regulation of the Reproductive Division of Labor in Social Insects.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2020Review
- Comparative transcriptomics of social insect queen pheromones.Nature communications · 2019Article
- Queen Control or Queen Signal in Ants: What Remains of the Controversy 25 Years After Keller and Nonacs' Seminal Paper?Journal of chemical ecology · 2018Review
- Social context influences the expression of DNA methyltransferase genes in the honeybee.Scientific reports · 2018Article
- Epigenetics with special reference to the human X chromosome inactivation and the enigma ofJournal of genetics · 2018Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
DNA methylation is emerging as an important regulator of polyphenism in the social insects. Research has concentrated on differences in methylation between queens and workers, though we hypothesized that methylation is involved in mediating other flexible phenotypes, including pheromone-dependent changes in worker behaviour and physiology. Here, we find that exposure to queen pheromone affects the expression of two DNA methyltransferase genes in Apis mellifera honeybees and in two species of Lasius ants, but not in Bombus terrestris bumblebees. These results suggest that queen pheromones influence the worker methylome, pointing to a novel proximate mechanism for these key social signals.
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