ArticleNature communications2019
Comparative transcriptomics of social insect queen pheromones.
Article in Nature communications, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 44 citations in OpenAlex.
- Gene Expression and Alternative Splicing Regulate Phenotypic Plasticity of a Social Wasp.Ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- Coordinated Transcriptomic and Epigenetic Approach Reveals Molecular Features Underlying Natural Mating Ability in Captive Male Giant Pandas.Ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- Fire ant ovary gene expression analyses revealed immune and insulin pathways underlie the reproductive transition from virgin to mated queen.BMC genomics · 2025Article
- The eusocial non-code: Unveiling the impact of noncoding RNAs on Hymenoptera eusocial evolution.Non-coding RNA research · 2025Review
- Pheromone relay networks in the honeybee: messenger workers distribute the queen's fertility signal throughout the hive.BMC biology · 2024Article
- The Molecular Substrates of Insect Eusociality.Annual review of genetics · 2024Review
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- Putting hornets on the genomic map.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Discovery of SNP Molecular Markers and Candidate Genes Associated with Sacbrood Virus Resistance inInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- Temperature and livestock grazing trigger transcriptome responses in bumblebees along an elevational gradient.iScience · 2022Article
- Self-organization of plasticity and specialization in a primitively social insect.Cell systems · 2022Article
- Alternative splicing and gene expression play contrasting roles in the parallel phenotypic evolution of a salmonid fish.Molecular ecology · 2021Article
- Social communication activates the circadian gene Tctimeless in Tribolium castaneum.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Molecular regulation of lifespan extension in fertile ant workers.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2021Article
- Genetic basis of chemical communication in eusocial insects.Genes & development · 2021Review
- Distinct chemical blends produced by different reproductive castes in the subterranean termite Reticulitermes flavipes.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Gene expression and epigenetics reveal species-specific mechanisms acting upon common molecular pathways in the evolution of task division in bees.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Gene expression during larval caste determination and differentiation in intermediately eusocial bumblebees, and a comparative analysis with advanced eusocial honeybees.Molecular ecology · 2021Article
- Attack of the dark clones the genetics of reproductive and color traits of South African honey bees (Apis mellifera spp.).PloS one · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Queen pheromones are chemical signals that mediate reproductive division of labor in eusocial animals. Remarkably, queen pheromones are composed of identical or chemically similar compounds in some ants, wasps and bees, even though these taxa diverged >150MYA and evolved queens and workers independently. Here, we measure the transcriptomic consequences of experimental exposure to queen pheromones in workers from two ant and two bee species (genera: Lasius, Apis, Bombus), and test whether they are similar across species. Queen pheromone exposure affected transcription and splicing at many loci. Many genes responded consistently in multiple species, and the set of pheromone-sensitive genes was enriched for functions relating to lipid biosynthesis and transport, olfaction, production of cuticle, oogenesis, and histone (de)acetylation. Pheromone-sensitive genes tend to be evolutionarily ancient, positively selected, peripheral in the gene coexpression network, hypomethylated, and caste-specific in their expression. Our results reveal how queen pheromones achieve their effects, and suggest that ants and bees use similar genetic modules to achieve reproductive 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.