ArticlePloS one2017
An Efficient Antioxidant System in a Long-Lived Termite Queen.
Article in PloS one, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers.
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Who cites it
31 citing papers in PubMed, 55 citations in OpenAlex.
- Adaptive changes in behavioral and physiological traits during worker-reproductive transition in Reticulitermes chinensis (Blattodea: Rhinotermitidae).Journal of insect science (Online) · 2026Article
- Transcriptomic Evidence Reveals the IIS-FOXO-SOD2 Axis as a Core Anti-Aging Pathway in Long-Lived Queens ofInsects · 2026Article
- Inter-Caste Comparison Reveals a Unique Bioenergetic Signature in Long-Lived Ant Queens.Molecular ecology · 2025Article
- Insects as Sentinels of Oxidative Stress Induced by Environmental Contaminants: Biomarkers and Analytical Approaches.Toxics · 2025Review
- Extended longevity of termite kings and queens is accompanied by extranuclear localization of telomerase in somatic organs and caste-specific expression of its isoforms.Insect science · 2025Article
- Age-related changes in antioxidant defenses of the Mediterranean centipede Scolopendra cingulata (Chilopoda).Journal of comparative physiology. B, Biochemical, systemic, and environmental physiology · 2023Article
- Age- and Lifespan-Dependent Differences in GO Caused DNA Damage inInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2022Article
- Article
- Assessment of Sex-Specific Toxicity and Physiological Responses to Thymol in a Common Bean PestFrontiers in physiology · 2022Article
- Synergistic effects of Zn, Cu, and Ni and Bacillus thuringiensis on the hemocyte count and the antioxidant activities of Hyphantria cunea Drury (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) larvae.Ecotoxicology (London, England) · 2022Article
- Genetic repression of the antioxidant enzymes reduces the lifespan in Drosophila melanogaster.Journal of comparative physiology. B, Biochemical, systemic, and environmental physiology · 2022Article
- Molecular underpinnings of division of labour among workers in a socially complex termite.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Disentangling the aging gene expression network of termite queens.BMC genomics · 2021Article
- Long-lived termite kings and queens activate telomerase in somatic organs.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2021Article
- Oxidative stress and senescence in social insects: a significant but inconsistent link?Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2021Article
- Why and how do termite kings and queens live so long?Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2021Article
- Reproductive activation in honeybee (Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2021Article
- Comparative transcriptomic analysis of the mechanisms underpinning ageing and fecundity in social insects.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2021Article
- The effect of environmental stress on ageing in a termite species with low social complexity.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2021Article
- Ozone Pollution Alters Olfaction and Behavior of Pollinators.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The trade-off between reproduction and longevity is known in wide variety of animals. Social insect queens are rare organisms that can achieve a long lifespan without sacrificing fecundity. The extended longevity of social insect queens, which contradicts the trade-off, has attracted much attention because it implies the existence of an extraordinary anti-aging mechanism. Here, we show that queens of the termite Reticulitermes speratus incur significantly lower oxidative damage to DNA, protein and lipid and have higher activity of antioxidant enzymes than non-reproductive individuals (workers and soldiers). The levels of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (oxidative damage marker of DNA) were lower in queens than in workers after UV irradiation. Queens also showed lower levels of protein carbonyls and malondialdehyde (oxidative damage markers of protein and lipid, respectively). The antioxidant enzymes of insects are generally composed of catalase (CAT) and peroxiredoxin (Prx). Queens showed more than two times higher CAT activity and more than seven times higher expression levels of the CAT gene RsCAT1 than workers. The CAT activity of termite queens was also markedly higher in comparison with other solitary insects and the queens of eusocial Hymenoptera. In addition, queens showed higher expression levels of the Prx gene RsPRX6. These results suggested that this efficient antioxidant system can partly explain why termite queens achieve long life. This study provides important insights into the evolutionary linkage of reproductive division of labor and the development of queens' oxidative stress resistance in social insects.
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