Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29386535›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2018

Comparative analyses of co-evolving host-parasite associations reveal unique gene expression patterns underlying slavemaker raiding and host defensive phenotypes.

Austin Alleman, Barbara Feldmeyer, Susanne Foitzik

Open access · goldAbstract readComparative Study
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed
2.4field-weighted citation impact, top 11% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

10 citing papers in PubMed, 21 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Genome assembly of the temporary socially parasitic spiny ant Polyrhachis lamellidens and its host Camponotus japonicus.DNA research : an international journal for rapid publication of reports on genes and genomes · 2025
    Article
  3. Article
  4. The evolution of social parasitism inProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2021
    Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Inquiline social parasites as tools to unlock the secrets of insect sociality.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2019
    Article
  9. Ant behaviour and brain gene expression of defending hosts depend on the ecological success of the intruding social parasite.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2019
    Article
  10. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Austin AllemanInstitute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Johannes von Müller Weg 6, Mainz, 55128, Germany. aalleman@uni-mainz.de.
Barbara FeldmeyerSenckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, Senckenberganlage 25, D-60325, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Susanne FoitzikInstitute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Johannes von Müller Weg 6, Mainz, 55128, Germany.
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz · DESenckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The transition to parasitism is a drastic shift in lifestyle, involving rapid changes in gene structure, function, and expression. After the establishment of antagonistic relationships, parasites and hosts co-evolve through reciprocal adaptations, often resulting in evolutionary arms-races. Repeated evolution of social parasitism and slavery among Temnothorax ants allows us to examine those gene expression patterns that characterize slavemaker raiding and reciprocal host defensive phenotypes. Previous behavioural studies have established that raiding strategies between Temnothorax slavemakers diverge, while host defense portfolios shift similarly under parasite pressure. We are the first to confirm this at the molecular level, revealing that slavemaking species exhibit a wider variety of genes with species-specific patterns of expression within their raiding phenotypes, whereas expression similarity is commonly found during the non-raiding phenotype. Host species response to slavemaker aggression, however, is indicated by strong changes in the expression of a relatively few number genes. Additionally, the expression of individual genes such as Acyl-CoA-Delta(11) desaturase and Trypsin-7 is strongly associated with the raiding phenotype of all three slavemaking species. Here, we provide novel insight into the gene expression patterns associated with raiding and nest defense behavior in Temnothorax ants, suggesting lineage-specific evolutionary patterns among both slavemakers and hosts.

Indexed as

Biological EvolutionGene Expression RegulationAnimalsAntsGene Regulatory NetworksHost-Parasite InteractionsLikelihood FunctionsPhenotypePhylogenySequence Analysis, RNASpecies SpecificityTranscriptomeUp-Regulation

Identifiers

PMID29386535
PMCPMC5792630
OpenAlexW2799911175

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.