ArticlePLoS biology2018
Vitellogenin-like A-associated shifts in social cue responsiveness regulate behavioral task specialization in an ant.
Article in PLoS biology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 38 papers.
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38 citing papers in PubMed, 84 citations in OpenAlex.
- Genome Evolution in Social Insects.Genome biology and evolution · 2026Review
- Preparing for parenthood: molecular reprogramming precedes parenting in the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides.Frontiers in zoology · 2026Article
- Convergent evolution of a conserved molecular network underlies parenting and sociality.Nature reviews. Genetics · 2026Review
- To jump or not to jump: comparing effects of phenotypic plasticity on the visual responses and escape behavior of locusts and grasshoppers.Journal of neurophysiology · 2026Article
- Evidence for vitellogenin DNA-binding in honey bees.Protein science : a publication of the Protein Society · 2025Article
- Molecular Adjustment to a Social Niche: Brain Transcriptomes Reveal Divergent Influence of Social Environment on the Two Queen Morphs of the Ant Temnothorax rugatulus.Molecular ecology · 2025Article
- Cryo-EM structure of native honey bee vitellogenin.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Worker Survival and Egg Production-But Not Transcriptional Activity-Respond to Queen Number in the Highly Polygynous, Invasive Ant Tapinoma magnum.Molecular ecology · 2025Article
- Roles of Vitellogenin and Its Receptor Genes in Female Reproduction of the Cigarette Beetle,Insects · 2025Article
- Sex-Biased Transcription Expression of Vitellogenins Reveals Fusion Gene and MicroRNA Regulation in the Sea Louse Caligus rogercresseyi.Marine biotechnology (New York, N.Y.) · 2024Article
- Task-specific odorant receptor expression in worker antennae indicates that sensory filters regulate division of labor in ants.Communications biology · 2023Article
- Histone acetyltransferases and external demands influence task switching inBiology letters · 2023Article
- Family before work: task reversion in workers of the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta in the presence of brood.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Olfactory sensitivity differentiates morphologically distinct worker castes in Camponotus floridanus.BMC biology · 2023Article
- Neural mechanisms involved in female mate choice in invertebrates.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2023Review
- Genetic mechanisms modulating behaviour through plastic chemosensory responses in insects.Molecular ecology · 2023Review
- Resource sharing is sufficient for the emergence of division of labour.Nature communications · 2022Article
- Individual experience influences reconstruction of division of labour under colony disturbance in a queenless ant species.Frontiers in zoology · 2022Article
- Genomic and transcriptomic analyses of the subterranean termiteProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2022Article
- Structure prediction of honey bee vitellogenin: a multi-domain protein important for insect immunity.FEBS open bio · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Division of labor and task specialization explain the success of human and insect societies. Social insect colonies are characterized by division of labor, with workers specializing in brood care early and foraging later in life. Theory posits that this task switching requires shifts in responsiveness to task-related cues, yet experimental evidence is weak. Here, we show that a Vitellogenin (Vg) ortholog identified in an RNAseq study on the ant T. longispinosus is involved in this process: using phylogenetic analyses of Vg and Vg-like genes, we firstly show that this candidate gene does not cluster with the intensively studied honey bee Vg but falls into a separate Vg-like A cluster. Secondly, an experimental knockdown of Vg-like A in the fat body caused a reduction in brood care and an increase in nestmate care in young ant workers. Nestmate care is normally exhibited by older workers. We demonstrate experimentally that this task switch is at least partly based on Vg-like A-associated shifts in responsiveness from brood to worker cues. We thus reveal a novel mechanism leading to early behavioral maturation via changes in social cue responsiveness mediated by Vg-like A and associated pathways, which proximately play a role in regulating division of labor.
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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.