ArticleCommunications biology2021
Sociality sculpts similar patterns of molecular evolution in two independently evolved lineages of eusocial bees.
Article in Communications biology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Co-expression Gene Networks and Machine-learning Algorithms Unveil a Core Genetic Toolkit for Reproductive Division of Labour in Rudimentary Insect Societies.Genome biology and evolution · 2023Pooled it
- Five decades of misunderstanding in the social Hymenoptera: a review and meta-analysis of Michener's paradox.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2022Pooled it
- Genome Evolution in Social Insects.Genome biology and evolution · 2026Review
- The genetic foundations of convergent traits.Nature reviews. Genetics · 2026Review
- Genomic Insights Into the Evolution of Parental Care in Weevils.Genome biology and evolution · 2026Article
- Genome-Wide Identification of Transcriptional Start Sites and Candidate Enhancers Regulating Worker Metamorphosis inInsects · 2026Article
- Preparing for parenthood: molecular reprogramming precedes parenting in the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides.Frontiers in zoology · 2026Article
- Cryptocercus Genomes Expand Knowledge of Adaptations to Xylophagy and Termite Sociality.Genome biology and evolution · 2026Article
- The Evolution of Bees: Insights from 'Omic Studies.Genome biology and evolution · 2026Review
- Distinct colony niches shape associated microbiotas in Neotropical stingless bees.Genetics and molecular biology · 2026Article
- Chromosome-level genome assembly of Protandrena (Anthemurgus) passiflorae (Hymenoptera: Andrenidae), a host-plant specialist bee.G3 (Bethesda, Md.) · 2025Article
- Exploring the genetics of social behaviour in C. calcarata.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- The Molecular Substrates of Insect Eusociality.Annual review of genetics · 2024Review
- Pervasive relaxed selection in termite genomes.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2024Article
- Phylogeny of the carpenter bees (Apidae: Xylocopinae) highlights repeated evolution of sociality.Biology letters · 2023Article
- Putting hornets on the genomic map.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Molecular patterns and processes in evolving sociality: lessons from insects.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2023Review
- Social complexity, life-history and lineage influence the molecular basis of castes in vespid wasps.Nature communications · 2023Article
- Signatures of Positive Selection in the Genome ofLife (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Genome of the bee Holcopasites calliopsidis-a species showing the common apid trait of brood parasitism.G3 (Bethesda, Md.) · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
While it is well known that the genome can affect social behavior, recent models posit that social lifestyles can, in turn, influence genome evolution. Here, we perform the most phylogenetically comprehensive comparative analysis of 16 bee genomes to date: incorporating two published and four new carpenter bee genomes (Apidae: Xylocopinae) for a first-ever genomic comparison with a monophyletic clade containing solitary through advanced eusocial taxa. We find that eusocial lineages have undergone more gene family expansions, feature more signatures of positive selection, and have higher counts of taxonomically restricted genes than solitary and weakly social lineages. Transcriptomic data reveal that caste-affiliated genes are deeply-conserved; gene regulatory and functional elements are more closely tied to social phenotype than phylogenetic lineage; and regulatory complexity increases steadily with social complexity. Overall, our study provides robust empirical evidence that social evolution can act as a major and surprisingly consistent driver of macroevolutionary genomic change.
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