ArticleGenome biology and evolution2018
Evolution of Olfactory Functions on the Fire Ant Social Chromosome.
Article in Genome biology and evolution, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 21 citations in OpenAlex.
- Ancient but dynamic: structural expansion, massive gene duplication, and transposable element colonization in a supergene controlling ant social organization.Molecular biology and evolution · 2026Article
- Evolution of molecular and cellular bases of self-sacrificing gall repair in social aphids.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Plant derived biopesticides for controlling imported fire ants (Frontiers in plant science · 2026Review
- Life history and chromosome organization determine chemoreceptor gene expression in rattlesnakes.The Journal of heredity · 2025Article
- The Fire Ant Social Chromosome Exerts a Major Influence on Genome Regulation.Molecular biology and evolution · 2025Article
- Structural basis of odor sensing by insect heteromeric odorant receptors.Science (New York, N.Y.) · 2024Article
- Sublethal Exposure to Cadmium Induces Chemosensory Dysfunction in Fire Ants.Environmental science & technology · 2022Article
- Iterative evolution of supergene-based social polymorphism in ants.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2022Review
- Recurring adaptive introgression of a supergene variant that determines social organization.Nature communications · 2022Article
- Characterization of Queen Supergene Pheromone in the Red Imported Fire Ant Using Worker Discrimination Assays.Journal of chemical ecology · 2022Article
- Expansion and Accelerated Evolution of 9-Exon Odorant Receptors in Polistes Paper Wasps.Molecular biology and evolution · 2021Article
- Antennal Proteome of the Solenopsis invicta (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): Caste Differences in Olfactory Receptors and Chemosensory Support Proteins.Journal of insect science (Online) · 2020Article
- The social supergene dates back to the speciation time of two Solenopsis fire ant species.Scientific reports · 2020Article
- Evolution, developmental expression and function of odorant receptors in insects.The Journal of experimental biology · 2020Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Understanding the molecular evolutionary basis of social behavior is a major challenge in evolutionary biology. Social insects evolved a complex language of chemical signals to coordinate thousands of individuals. In the fire ant Solenopsis invicta, chemical signals are involved in the determination of a polymorphic social organization. Single-queen (monogyne) or multiqueen (polygyne) social structure is determined by the "social chromosome," a nonrecombining region containing ∼504 genes with two distinct haplotypes, SB and Sb. Monogyne queens are always SBB, while polygyne queens are always SBb. Workers discriminate monogyne from polygyne queens based on olfactory cues. Here, we took an evolutionary genomics approach to search for candidate genes in the social chromosome that could be responsible for this discrimination. We compared the SB and Sb haplotypes and analyzed the evolutionary rates since their divergence. Notably, we identified a cluster of 23 odorant receptors in the nonrecombining region of the social chromosome that stands out in terms of nonsynonymous changes in both haplotypes. The cluster includes twelve genes formed by recent Solenopsis-specific duplications. We found evidence for positive selection on several tree branches and significant differences between the SB and Sb haplotypes of these genes. The most dramatic difference is the complete deletion of two of these genes in Sb. These results suggest that the evolution of polygyne social organization involved adaptations in olfactory genes and opens the way for functional studies of the molecular mechanisms underlying social behavior.
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