ArticleCell2025
Adaptive radiation and social evolution of the ants.
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Article in Cell, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers.
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28citing papers in PubMed
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Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed.
- Genome Evolution in Social Insects.Genome biology and evolution · 2026Review
- Regulation of reproductive and behavioral plasticity in social insects.Current opinion in insect science · 2026Review
- Transposable elements as evolutionary catalysts of ant macrodiversity.Science advances · 2026Article
- Article
- Article
- Cestode infection is linked to transcriptional shifts in neuropeptide signalling and caste-specific ageing pathways in a social insect.BMC genomics · 2026Article
- Venom composition of the ant Tetraponera rufonigra reveals insights into the evolution of dimeric ant venom peptides.Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS · 2026Article
- Ancient but dynamic: structural expansion, massive gene duplication, and transposable element colonization in a supergene controlling ant social organization.Molecular biology and evolution · 2026Article
- Sequential origin of an alternative colony founding strategy driven by two supergenes in Temnothorax ants.Molecular biology and evolution · 2026Article
- Adaptive evolution of odorant receptors is associated with elaborations of social organization in ants.Molecular biology and evolution · 2026Article
- Convergent evolution of a conserved molecular network underlies parenting and sociality.Nature reviews. Genetics · 2026Review
- Conflict in ant phylogeny results from complex interaction between multiple evolutionary signals and tree reconstruction artifacts.Molecular biology and evolution · 2026Article
- High-throughput phenomics of global ant biodiversity.Nature methods · 2026Article
- Larger colony sizes favour greater division of labour between queens and workers in ants.Evolution; international journal of organic evolution · 2026Article
- Environmental conditions shape the global distribution of ant societies.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Comparative analysis of 163 ant genomes reveals recurrent horizontal gene transfer from bacteria to ants.GigaScience · 2026Article
- A Chromosome-level genome assembly of the black ant Formica fusca.Scientific data · 2025Article
- The "Chameleon Ant"Ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- Genomic Signatures of Selection Across Climate Gradients and a Geographic Mosaic of Coevolution in an Ant Social Parasite-Host System.Molecular biology and evolution · 2025Article
- A Novel Supergene Controls Queen Size and Colony Social Organization in the Ant Myrmica ruginodis.Molecular biology and evolution · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
47 authors.
Joel VizuetaSection for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
Zijun XiongState Key Laboratory of Genetic Evolution & Animal Models, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 650201 Kunming, China; BGI Research, Wuhan, China.
Guo DingCenter for Evolutionary & Organismal Biology, Women's Hospital & Liangzhu Laboratory, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
Rasmus S LarsenSection for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
Hao RanCenter for Evolutionary & Organismal Biology, Women's Hospital & Liangzhu Laboratory, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China; Biological Education and Research Laboratory, Mancheng High School of Hebei Province, Baoding, China.
Qionghua GaoGuangxi Key Laboratory of Agro-Environmental and Agric-Products Safety/National Demonstration Center for Experimental Plant Science Education, College of Agriculture, Guangxi University, 530004 Nanning, Guangxi, China.
Josefin StillerSection for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
Wei DaiBGI Research, Wuhan, China.
Wei JiangState Key Laboratory of Genome and Multi-omics Technologies, BGI Research, 518083 Shenzhen, China.
Jie ZhaoState Key Laboratory of Genetic Evolution & Animal Models, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 650201 Kunming, China.
Chunxue GuoBGI Research, Wuhan, China.
Xiafang ZhangState Key Laboratory of Genetic Evolution & Animal Models, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 650201 Kunming, China.
Dashuang ZuoState Key Laboratory of Genetic Evolution & Animal Models, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 650201 Kunming, China.
Wenjiang ZhongState Key Laboratory of Genetic Evolution & Animal Models, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 650201 Kunming, China.
Morten SchiøttSection for Protein and Enzyme Technology, Department of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark.
Chengyuan LiuCenter for Evolutionary & Organismal Biology, Women's Hospital & Liangzhu Laboratory, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
Hailin ZhangState Key Laboratory of Genetic Evolution & Animal Models, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 650201 Kunming, China.
Xueqin DaiState Key Laboratory of Genetic Evolution & Animal Models, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 650201 Kunming, China.
Ignasi AndreuSection for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
Yue ShiSection for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
Sandra TretterMax Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany; Institute for Evolution & Biodiversity, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.
Ding HeNovo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark.
Shubham GautamBiodiversity and Biocomplexity Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna, Okinawa, Japan.
Zelin LiSection for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
Glenn HickeyUC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA.
Aniek B F IvensEcology & Evolution Section, A-Life, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1108, 1081 HV Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Marie-Pierre MeurvilleDepartment of Biology, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland.
Francisco Hita-GarciaBiodiversity and Biocomplexity Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna, Okinawa, Japan; Center for Integrative Biodiversity Discovery, Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, Germany.
Jamie M KassBiodiversity and Biocomplexity Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna, Okinawa, Japan; Macroecology Lab, Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan.
Benoit GuénardSchool of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Corrie MoreauDepartment of Entomology and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.
Benedict PatenUC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA.
Adria C LeBoeufDepartment of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Evan P EconomoBiodiversity and Biocomplexity Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna, Okinawa, Japan; Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
GAGA Consortium
Michel ChapuisatDepartment of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
Jonathan Z ShikSection for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark; Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado Postal, Balboa, Ancon, 0843-03092 Panama City, Panama.
Philip S WardDepartment of Entomology and Nematology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA.
Jürgen HeinzeZoology/Evolutionary Biology, University of Regensburg, Regensburg 93040, Germany.
Ted R SchultzDepartment of Entomology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA.
Qiye LiBGI Research, Wuhan, China; State Key Laboratory of Genome and Multi-omics Technologies, BGI Research, 518083 Shenzhen, China; College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Robert R DunnDepartment of Applied Ecology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.
Nathan J SandersDepartment of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Weiwei LiuState Key Laboratory of Genetic Evolution & Animal Models, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 650201 Kunming, China. Electronic address: liuweiwei@mail.kiz.ac.cn.
Lukas SchraderInstitute for Evolution & Biodiversity, University of Münster, Münster, Germany. Electronic address: lukas.schrader@uni-muenster.de.
Jacobus J BoomsmaSection for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark. Electronic address: jjboomsma@bio.ku.dk.
Guojie ZhangCenter for Evolutionary & Organismal Biology, Women's Hospital & Liangzhu Laboratory, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China; Villum Center for Biodiversity Genomics, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen 2100, Denmark. Electronic address: guojiezhang@zju.edu.cn.
Funding
New methods for studying thousands of complete human and vertebrate genomesR01HG014490 · NHGRI · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ · PI Benedict Paten, Yatish Turakhia · 2025 to 2026
$1.2MThe Production and Dissipation of Energy in the Hair Bundle of the Inner EarF31DC009758 · NIDCD · ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY · PI LEBOEUF, ADRIA CLAIRE · 2008 to 2010
$123kNHGRI NIH HHS R01 HG014490NIDCD NIH HHS F31 DC009758
Abstract
Ants originated over 150 million years ago through an irreversible transition to superorganismal colony life. Comparative analyses of 163 ant genomes, including newly generated whole-genome sequences of 145 ant species, reveal extensive genome rearrangements correlated with speciation rates. Meanwhile, conserved syntenic blocks are enriched with co-expressed genes involved in basal metabolism and caste differentiation. Gene families related to digestion, endocrine signaling, cuticular hydrocarbon synthesis, and chemoreception expanded in the ant ancestor, while many caste-associated genes underwent positive selection in the formicoid ancestor. Elaborations and reductions of queen-worker dimorphism and other social traits left convergent signatures of intensified or relaxed selection in conserved signaling and metabolic pathways, suggesting that a core gene set was used to diversify organizational complexity. Previously uncharacterized genetic regulators of caste development were confirmed by functional experiments. This study reconstructs the genetic underpinning of social traits and their integration within gene-regulatory networks shaping caste phenotypes.
Indexed as
AntsSocial EvolutionAnimalsGene Regulatory NetworksGenome, InsectPhenotypePhylogenySocial Behaviorcaste differentiationformicidaegene-regulatory networksgenome evolutionMAPK/insulin/JH pathwaysphylogenomicsreproductive division of laborselection signaturessuperorganismal coloniessynteny
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