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Françoso E, Zuntini AR, Ricardo PC, Santos PKF, de Souza Araujo N, Silva JPN, Gonçalves LT, Brito R, Gloag R, Taylor BA, Harpur B, Oldroyd BP, Brown MJF, Arias MC. Rapid evolution, rearrangements and whole mitogenome duplication in the Australian stingless bees Tetragonula (Hymenoptera: Apidae): A steppingstone towards understanding mitochondrial function and evolution. Int J Biol Macromol 2023; 242:124568. [PMID: 37100315 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.124568] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2022] [Revised: 03/16/2023] [Accepted: 04/10/2023] [Indexed: 04/28/2023]
Abstract
The extreme conservation of mitochondrial genomes in metazoans poses a significant challenge to understanding mitogenome evolution. However, the presence of variation in gene order or genome structure, found in a small number of taxa, can provide unique insights into this evolution. Previous work on two stingless bees in the genus Tetragonula (T. carbonaria and T. hockingsi) revealed highly divergent CO1 regions between them and when compared to the bees from the same tribe (Meliponini), indicating rapid evolution. Using mtDNA isolation and Illumina sequencing, we elucidated the mitogenomes of both species. In both species, there has been a duplication of the whole mitogenome to give a total genome size of 30,666 bp in T. carbonaria; and 30,662 bp in T. hockingsi. These duplicated genomes present a circular structure with two identical and mirrored copies of all 13 protein coding genes and 22 tRNAs, with the exception of a few tRNAs that are present as single copies. In addition, the mitogenomes are characterized by rearrangements of two block of genes. We believe that rapid evolution is present in the whole Indo-Malay/Australasian group of Meliponini but is extraordinarily elevated in T. carbonaria and T. hockingsi, probably due to founder effect, low effective population size and the mitogenome duplication. All these features - rapid evolution, rearrangements, and duplication - deviate significantly from the vast majority of the mitogenomes described so far, making the mitogenomes of Tetragonula unique opportunities to address fundamental questions of mitogenome function and evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elaine Françoso
- Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour, Department of Biological Sciences, School of Life Sciences and the Environment, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham TW20 0EX, UK; Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP 05508-090, Brazil.
| | | | - Paulo Cseri Ricardo
- Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP 05508-090, Brazil
| | | | - Natalia de Souza Araujo
- Unit of Evolutionary Biology & Ecology, Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium
| | - João Paulo Naldi Silva
- Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP 05508-090, Brazil
| | | | | | - Rosalyn Gloag
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia
| | - Benjamin A Taylor
- Department of Entomology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA
| | - Brock Harpur
- Department of Entomology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA
| | - Benjamin P Oldroyd
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia
| | - Mark J F Brown
- Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour, Department of Biological Sciences, School of Life Sciences and the Environment, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham TW20 0EX, UK
| | - Maria Cristina Arias
- Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP 05508-090, Brazil
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Serra RS, Campos LAO, Serrão JE. Evidence that workers recognize unfertilized queen‐laid eggs for male production in stingless bees. ACTA ZOOL-STOCKHOLM 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/azo.12401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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3
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Abstract
Abstract
In eusocial Hymenoptera, queens and their helper offspring should favour different sex investment ratios. Queens should prefer a 1:1 investment ratio, as they are equally related to offspring of both sexes (r = 0.5). In contrast, helpers should favour an investment ratio of 3:1 towards the production of female brood. This conflict arises because helpers are more closely related to full sisters (r = 0.75) than brothers (r = 0.25). However, helpers should invest relatively more in male brood if relatedness asymmetry within their colony is reduced. This can occur due to queen replacement after colony orphaning, multiple paternity and the presence of unrelated alien helpers. We analysed an unprecedentedly large number of colonies (n = 109) from a UK population of Lasioglossum malachurum, an obligate eusocial sweat bee, to tease apart the effects of these factors on colony-level investment ratios. We found that multiple paternity, unrelated alien helpers and colony orphaning were all common. Queen-right colonies invested relatively more in females than did orphaned colonies, producing a split sex ratio. However, investment ratios did not change due to multiple paternity or the presence of alien helpers, reducing inclusive fitness pay-offs for helpers. Queen control may also have been important: helpers rarely laid male eggs, and investment in female brood was lower when queens were large relative to their helpers. Genetic relatedness between helpers and the brood that they rear was 0.43 in one year and 0.37 in another year, suggesting that ecological benefits, as well as relatedness benefits, are necessary for the maintenance of helping behaviour.
Significance statement
How helping behaviour is maintained in eusocial species is a key topic in evolutionary biology. Colony-level sex investment ratio changes in response to relatedness asymmetries can dramatically influence inclusive fitness benefits for helpers in eusocial Hymenoptera. The extent to which helpers in primitively eusocial colonies can respond adaptively to different sources of variation in relatedness asymmetry is unclear. Using data from 109 colonies of the sweat bee Lasioglossum malachurum, we found that queen loss, but not multiple paternity or the presence of alien helpers, was correlated with colony sex investment ratios. Moreover, we quantified average helper-brood genetic relatedness to test whether it is higher than that predicted under solitary reproduction (r = 0.5). Values equal to and below r = 0.5 suggest that relatedness benefits alone cannot explain the maintenance of helping behaviour. Ecological benefits of group living and/or coercion must also contribute.
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Vollet-Neto A, Imperatriz-Fonseca VL, Ratnieks FLW. Queen Execution, Diploid Males, and Selection For and Against Polyandry in the Brazilian Stingless Bee Scaptotrigona depilis. Am Nat 2019; 194:725-735. [PMID: 31613668 DOI: 10.1086/705393] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Female mating frequency varies. Determining the causes of this variation is an active research area. We tested the hypothesis that in stingless bees, Meliponini, single mating is due to the execution of queens that make a matched mating at the complementary sex determination locus and have diploid male offspring. We studied the Brazilian species Scaptotrigona depilis. We made up 70 test colonies so that 50% (single matched mating), 25% (double mating), 12.5% (quadruple mating), or 0% (single nonmatched mating) of the emerging brood were diploid males. Queen execution following diploid male emergence was equal and high in colonies producing 50% (77% executed) and 25% (75%) diploid males versus equal and low in colonies producing 12.5% (7%) and 0% (0%) diploid males. These results show that queens that mate with two males with similar paternity suffer an increased chance of being executed, which selects against double mating. However, double mating with unequal paternity (e.g., 25∶75), which occasionally occurs in S. depilis, is selectively neutral. Single mating and double mating with unequal paternity form one adaptive peak. The results show a second adaptive peak at quadruple mating. However, this is inaccessible via gradual evolutionary change in a selective landscape with reduced fitness at double mating.
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5
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Grüter C. Repeated switches from cooperative to selfish worker oviposition during stingless bee evolution. J Evol Biol 2018; 31:1843-1851. [PMID: 30242940 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13377] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2018] [Revised: 09/13/2018] [Accepted: 09/17/2018] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Reproductive division of labour is a defining feature of insect societies. Stingless bees (Meliponini) are an interesting exception among the highly eusocial insects in that workers of many species contribute significantly to the production of males. Since workers remain sterile in other species of this large tropical tribe, it has been hypothesized that, in the latter species, ancestral queens have won the conflict over who produces the males. The fact that sterile workers of some species lay trophic eggs to feed the queen and display ritualized behaviours towards her during oviposition has been interpreted as an evolutionary relic of this ancient conflict. Here, I used ancestral state estimation to test whether worker reproduction is indeed the ancestral condition and worker sterility a derived state in stingless bees. Contrary to this hypothesis, data suggest that trophic egg laying was the ancestral condition, whereas selfish worker reproduction in queenright colonies evolved subsequently during stingless bee diversification. The appearance of worker reproduction in queenright conditions was tightly linked to the laying of trophic eggs, which suggests that having activated ovaries in queen presence facilitates the evolution of worker reproduction. Worker reproduction is also linked to brood cell architecture, but surprisingly not to colony size or queen-worker dimorphism. The reason for this association between brood cell architecture and worker oviposition is currently unknown. These results suggest that trophic eggs are not a relic of an ancient conflict, but a sign of overlapping interests between the queen and workers about who produces the males.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christoph Grüter
- Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany
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Francisco FO, Santiago LR, Mizusawa YM, Oldroyd BP, Arias MC. Population structuring of the ubiquitous stingless bee Tetragonisca angustula in southern Brazil as revealed by microsatellite and mitochondrial markers. INSECT SCIENCE 2017; 24:877-890. [PMID: 27334308 DOI: 10.1111/1744-7917.12371] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Revised: 04/27/2016] [Accepted: 05/05/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Tetragonisca angustula is one of the most widespread stingless bees in the Neotropics. This species swarms frequently and is extremely successful in urban environments. In addition, it is one of the most popular stingless bee species for beekeeping in Latin America, so nest transportation and trading is common. Nest transportation can change the genetic structure of the host population, reducing inbreeding and increasing homogenization. Here, we evaluate the genetic structure of 17 geographic populations of T. angustula in southern Brazil to quantify the level of genetic differentiation between populations. Analyses were conducted on partially sequenced mitochondrial genes and 11 microsatellite loci of 1002 workers from 457 sites distributed on the mainland and on 3 islands. Our results show that T. angustula populations are highly differentiated as demonstrated by mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and microsatellite markers. Of 73 haplotypes, 67 were population-specific. MtDNA diversity was low in 9 populations but microsatellite diversity was moderate to high in all populations. Microsatellite data suggest 10 genetic clusters and low level of gene flow throughout the studied area. However, physical barriers, such as rivers and mountain ranges, or the presence or absence of forest appear to be unrelated to population clusters. Factors such as low dispersal, different ecological conditions, and isolation by distance are most likely shaping the population structure of this species. Thus far, nest transportation has not influenced the general population structure in the studied area. However, due to the genetic structure we found, we recommend that nest transportation should only occur within and between populations that are genetically similar.
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Affiliation(s)
- Flávio O Francisco
- Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão 277 - sala 320, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Lab, School of Life and Environmental Sciences A12, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Leandro R Santiago
- Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão 277 - sala 320, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - Yuri M Mizusawa
- Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão 277 - sala 320, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - Benjamin P Oldroyd
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Lab, School of Life and Environmental Sciences A12, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Maria C Arias
- Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão 277 - sala 320, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
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8
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Stephens RE, Beekman M, Gloag R. The upside of recognition error? Artificially aggregated colonies of the stingless bee Tetragonula carbonaria tolerate high rates of worker drift. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2017. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blw048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
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9
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Fragmentation in the clouds? The population genetics of the native bee Partamona bilineata (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini) in the cloud forests of Guatemala. CONSERV GENET 2017. [DOI: 10.1007/s10592-017-0950-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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10
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Nunes TM, Mateus S, Favaris AP, Amaral MFZJ, von Zuben LG, Clososki GC, Bento JMS, Oldroyd BP, Silva R, Zucchi R, Silva DB, Lopes NP. Queen signals in a stingless bee: suppression of worker ovary activation and spatial distribution of active compounds. Sci Rep 2014; 4:7449. [PMID: 25502598 PMCID: PMC4264003 DOI: 10.1038/srep07449] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2014] [Accepted: 11/18/2014] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
In most species of social insect the queen signals her presence to her workers via pheromones. Worker responses to queen pheromones include retinue formation around the queen, inhibition of queen cell production and suppression of worker ovary activation. Here we show that the queen signal of the Brazilian stingless bee Friesella schrottkyi is a mixture of cuticular hydrocarbons. Stingless bees are therefore similar to ants, wasps and bumble bees, but differ from honey bees in which the queen's signal mostly comprises volatile compounds originating from the mandibular glands. This shows that cuticular hydrocarbons have independently evolved as the queen's signal across multiple taxa, and that the honey bees are exceptional. We also report the distribution of four active queen-signal compounds by Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) imaging. The results indicate a relationship between the behavior of workers towards the queen and the likely site of secretion of the queen's pheromones.
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Affiliation(s)
- Túlio M Nunes
- 1] NPPNS, Departamento de Física e Química, FCFRP, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil [2] Departamento de Biologia, FFCLRP, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Sidnei Mateus
- Departamento de Biologia, FFCLRP, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Arodi P Favaris
- Departamento de Entomologia e Acarologia, ESALQ, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Mônica F Z J Amaral
- NPPNS, Departamento de Física e Química, FCFRP, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil
| | | | - Giuliano C Clososki
- NPPNS, Departamento de Física e Química, FCFRP, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil
| | - José M S Bento
- Departamento de Entomologia e Acarologia, ESALQ, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Benjamin P Oldroyd
- School of Biological Sciences A12, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Ricardo Silva
- NPPNS, Departamento de Física e Química, FCFRP, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Ronaldo Zucchi
- Departamento de Biologia, FFCLRP, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Denise B Silva
- NPPNS, Departamento de Física e Química, FCFRP, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Norberto P Lopes
- NPPNS, Departamento de Física e Química, FCFRP, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil
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11
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Mueller MY, Moritz RF, Kraus FB. Outbreeding and lack of temporal genetic structure in a drone congregation of the neotropical stingless bee Scaptotrigona mexicana. Ecol Evol 2012; 2:1304-11. [PMID: 22833802 PMCID: PMC3402202 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.203] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2011] [Revised: 12/12/2011] [Accepted: 12/15/2011] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
Drone aggregations are a widespread phenomenon in many stingless bee species (Meliponini), but the ultimate and proximate causes for their formation are still not well understood. One adaptive explanation for this phenomenon is the avoidance of inbreeding, which is especially detrimental for stingless bees due to the combined effects of the complementary sex-determining system and the small effective population size caused by eusociality and monandry. We analyzed the temporal genetic dynamics of a drone aggregation of the stingless bee Scaptotrigona mexicana with microsatellite markers over a time window of four weeks. We estimated the drones of the aggregation to originate from a total of 55 colonies using sibship re-construction. There was no detectable temporal genetic differentiation or sub-structuring in the aggregation. Most important, we could exclude all colonies in close proximity of the aggregation as origin of the drones in the aggregation, implicating that they originate from more distant colonies. We conclude that the diverse genetic composition and the distant origin of the drones of the S. mexicana drone congregation provides an effective mechanism to avoid mating among close relatives.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthias Y Mueller
- Institute for Biology, Molecular Ecology Work Group, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg Hoher Weg 4, 06122 Halle(Saale), Germany
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12
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Gene Variation, Population Differentiation, and Sociogenetic Structure of Nests of Partamona seridoensis (Hymenoptera: Apidae, Meliponini). Biochem Genet 2011; 50:325-35. [DOI: 10.1007/s10528-011-9465-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2011] [Accepted: 05/12/2011] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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dos Reis EP, de Oliveira Campos LA, Tavares MG. Prediction of social structure and genetic relatedness in colonies of the facultative polygynous stingless bee Melipona bicolor (Hymenoptera, Apidae). Genet Mol Biol 2011; 34:338-44. [PMID: 21734839 PMCID: PMC3115332 DOI: 10.1590/s1415-47572011005000008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2010] [Accepted: 12/21/2010] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Stingless bee colonies typically consist of one single-mated mother queen and her worker offspring. The stingless bee Melipona bicolor (Hymenoptera: Apidae) shows facultative polygyny, which makes this species particularly suitable for testing theoretical expectations concerning social behavior. In this study, we investigated the social structure and genetic relatedness among workers from eight natural and six manipulated colonies of M. bicolor over a period of one year. The populations of M. bicolor contained monogynous and polygynous colonies. The estimated genetic relatedness among workers from monogynous and polygynous colonies was 0.75 ± 0.12 and 0.53 ± 0.16 (mean ± SEM), respectively. Although the parental genotypes had significant effects on genetic relatedness in monogynous and polygynous colonies, polygyny markedly decreased the relatedness among nestmate workers. Our findings also demonstrate that polygyny in M. bicolor may arise from the adoption of related or unrelated queens.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Mara Garcia Tavares
- Departamento de Biologia Geral, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, MG, Brazil
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14
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Kronauer DJC, O'Donnell S, Boomsma JJ, Pierce NE. Strict monandry in the ponerine army ant genus Simopelta suggests that colony size and complexity drive mating system evolution in social insects. Mol Ecol 2010; 20:420-8. [PMID: 21121990 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-294x.2010.04945.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Altruism in social insects has evolved between closely related full-siblings. It is therefore of considerable interest why some groups have secondarily evolved low within-colony relatedness, which in turn affects the relatedness incentives of within-colony cooperation and conflict. The highest queen mating frequencies, and therefore among the lowest degrees of colony relatedness, occur in Apis honeybees and army ants of the subfamilies Aenictinae, Ecitoninae, and Dorylinae, suggesting that common life history features such as reproduction by colony fission and male biased numerical sex-ratios have convergently shaped these mating systems. Here we show that ponerine army ants of the genus Simopelta, which are distantly related but similar in general biology to other army ants, have strictly monandrous queens. Preliminary data suggest that workers reproduce in queenright colonies, which is in sharp contrast to other army ants. We hypothesize that differences in mature colony size and social complexity may explain these striking discrepancies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel J C Kronauer
- Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
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15
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Abstract
Insect colonies have been traditionally regarded as closed societies comprised of completely sterile workers ruled over by a single once-mated queen. However, over the past 15 years, microsatellite studies of parentage have revealed that this perception is far from the truth (Beekman & Oldroyd 2008). First, we learned that honey bee queens are far more promiscuous than we had previously imagined (Estoup et al. 1994), with one Apis dorsata queen clocked at over 100 mates (Wattanachaiyingcharoen et al. 2003). Then Oldroyd et al. (1994) reported a honey bee colony from Queensland, where virtually all the males were sons of a single patriline of workers - a clear case of a cheater mutant that promoted intra-colonial reproductive parasitism. Then we learned that both bumble bee colonies (Lopez-Vaamonde et al. 2004) and queenless honey bee colonies (Nanork et al. 2005, 2007) are routinely parasitized by workers from other nests that fly in and lay male-producing eggs that are then reared by the victim colony. There is even evidence that in a thelytokous honey bee population, workers lay female-destined eggs directly into queen cells, thus reincarnating themselves as a queen (Jordan et al. 2008). And let us not forget ants, where microsatellite studies have revealed equally bizarre and totally unexpected phenomena (e.g. Cahan & Keller 2003; Pearcy et al. 2004; Fournier et al. 2005). Now, in this issue, Alves et al. (2009) use microsatellites to provide yet another shocking and completely unexpected revelation about the nefarious goings-on in insect colonies: intergenerational reproductive parasitism by stingless bee workers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin P Oldroyd
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
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16
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ALVES DA, IMPERATRIZ-FONSECA VL, FRANCOY TM, SANTOS-FILHO PS, NOGUEIRA-NETO P, BILLEN J, WENSELEERS T. The queen is dead-long live the workers: intraspecific parasitism by workers in the stingless beeMelipona scutellaris. Mol Ecol 2009; 18:4102-11. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-294x.2009.04323.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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17
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Rueppell O, Johnson N, Rychtár J. Variance-based selection may explain general mating patterns in social insects. Biol Lett 2008; 4:270-3. [PMID: 18364307 PMCID: PMC2610052 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2008.0065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2008] [Revised: 02/29/2008] [Accepted: 03/04/2008] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Female mating frequency is one of the key parameters of social insect evolution. Several hypotheses have been suggested to explain multiple mating and considerable empirical research has led to conflicting results. Building on several earlier analyses, we present a simple general model that links the number of queen matings to variance in colony performance and this variance to average colony fitness. The model predicts selection for multiple mating if the average colony succeeds in a focal task, and selection for single mating if the average colony fails, irrespective of the proximate mechanism that links genetic diversity to colony fitness. Empirical support comes from interspecific comparisons, e.g. between the bee genera Apis and Bombus, and from data on several ant species, but more comprehensive empirical tests are needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olav Rueppell
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, 312 Eberhart Building, Greensboro, NC 27403, USA.
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18
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Beekman M, Oldroyd BP. When workers disunite: intraspecific parasitism by eusocial bees. ANNUAL REVIEW OF ENTOMOLOGY 2008; 53:19-37. [PMID: 17600462 DOI: 10.1146/annurev.ento.53.103106.093515] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/16/2023]
Abstract
One of the most obvious characteristics of an insect society is reproductive cooperation. Yet insect colonies are vulnerable to reproductive parasitism, both by workers from their own colony and by workers from others. Little is known about the mechanisms insect societies have evolved to protect themselves from being exploited from within and outside the colony and the mechanisms that social parasites have evolved to circumvent these mechanisms. Here we showcase recently discovered cases of intraspecific parasitism by workers in eusocial bees. These discoveries overturn the widespread view that insect colonies are like fortresses populated by female eunuchs, and yield important insights into the mechanisms that normally enforce functional worker sterility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Madeleine Beekman
- Behavior and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
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19
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Oldroyd BP, Fewell JH. Genetic diversity promotes homeostasis in insect colonies. Trends Ecol Evol 2007; 22:408-13. [PMID: 17573148 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2007.06.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 182] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2007] [Revised: 04/25/2007] [Accepted: 06/01/2007] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Although most insect colonies are headed by a singly mated queen, some ant, wasp and bee taxa have evolved high levels of multiple mating or 'polyandry'. We argue here that a contributing factor towards the evolution of polyandry is that the resulting genetic diversity within colonies provides them with a system of genetically based task specialization, enabling them to respond resiliently to environmental perturbation. An alternate view is that genetic contributions to task specialization are a side effect of multiple mating, which evolved through other causes, and that genetically based task specialization now makes little or no contribution to colony fitness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin P Oldroyd
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, School of Biological Sciences A12, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
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20
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Richards MH, French D, Paxton RJ. It's good to be queen: classically eusocial colony structure and low worker fitness in an obligately social sweat bee. Mol Ecol 2006; 14:4123-33. [PMID: 16262863 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-294x.2005.02724.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Lasioglossum malachurum, a bee species common across much of Europe, is obligately eusocial across its range but exhibits clear geographic variation in demography and social behaviour. This variation suggests that social interactions between queens and workers, opportunities for worker oviposition, and patterns of relatedness among nest mates may vary considerably, both within and among regions. In this study, we used three microsatellite loci with 12-18 alleles each to examine the sociogenetic structure of colonies from a population at Agios Nikolaos Monemvasias in southern Greece. These analyses reveal that the majority of colonies exhibit classical eusocial colony structure in which a single queen mated to a single male monopolizes oviposition. Nevertheless, we also detect low rates of multiqueen nest founding, occasional caste switching by worker-destined females, and worker oviposition of both gyne and male-producing eggs in the final brood. Previous evidence that the majority of workers show some ovarian development and a minority (17%) have at least one large oocyte contrasts with the observation that only 2-3% of gynes and males (the so-called reproductive brood) are produced by workers. An evaluation of the parameters of Hamilton's Rule suggests that queens benefit greatly from the help provided by workers but that workers achieve greater fitness by provisioning and laying their own eggs rather than by tending to the queen's eggs. This conflict of interest between the queen and her workers suggests that the discrepancy between potential and achieved worker oviposition is due to queen interference. Comparison of relatedness and maternity patterns in the Agios Nikolaos Monemvasias population with those from a northern population near Tübingen, Germany, points to a north-south cline of increasingly effective queen control of worker behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miriam H Richards
- Department of Biological Sciences, Brock University, St Catharines, Ontario L2S 3A1, Canada.
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Schlüns H, Moritz RF, Neumann P, Kryger P, Koeniger G. Multiple nuptial flights, sperm transfer and the evolution of extreme polyandry in honeybee queens. Anim Behav 2005. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2004.11.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 89] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Abstract
We studied the kin conflict over male parentage in the ant Formica fusca. The conflict arises because each worker and queen is most related to her own sons and is thus predicted to lay eggs. Microsatellite analysis of eggs revealed that workers laid eggs in more than half the queenright experimental nests. Nevertheless, almost exclusively diploid offspring were reared in the presence of a queen. This also occurred when worker-laid haploid male eggs were experimentally introduced in to the nests. Because our experimental setup allowed us to exclude the possibility of queen policing, we conclude that worker laid eggs are removed by other workers, either as a response to their parentage or gender. Our results suggest that worker reproduction in F. fusca is ultimately an interplay of conflicts over male parentage and sex allocation and that both worker and self policing have roles as proximate mechanisms of resolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- H Helanterä
- Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
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23
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Abstract
Mutual policing is an important mechanism that maintains social harmony in group-living organisms by suppressing the selfish behavior of individuals. In social insects, workers police one another (worker-policing) by preventing individual workers from laying eggs that would otherwise develop into males. Within the framework of Hamilton's rule there are two explanations for worker-policing behavior. First, if worker reproduction is cost-free, worker-policing should occur only where workers are more closely related to queen- than to worker-produced male eggs (relatedness hypothesis). Second, if there are substantial costs to unchecked worker reproduction, worker-policing may occur to counteract these costs and increase colony efficiency (efficiency hypothesis). The first explanation predicts that patterns of the parentage of males (male parentage) are associated with relatedness, whereas the latter does not. We have investigated how male parentage varies with colony kin structure and colony size in 50 species of ants, bees, and wasps in a phylogenetically controlled comparative analysis. Our survey revealed that queens produced the majority of males in most of the species and that workers produced more than half of the males in less than 10% of species. Moreover, we show that male parentage does not vary with relatedness as predicted by the relatedness hypothesis. This indicates that intra- and interspecific variation in male parentage cannot be accounted for by the relatedness hypothesis alone and that increased colony efficiency is an important factor responsible for the evolution of worker-policing. Our study reveals greater harmony and more complex regulation of reproduction in social insect colonies than that expected from simple theoretical expectations based on relatedness only. Workers of social insects prevent other workers laying eggs to increase colony efficiency and not -- as traditionally thought - purely because workers are more related to the queen of the colony
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert L Hammond
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, Bâtiment de Biologie, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
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Cameron EC, Franck P, Oldroyd BP. Genetic structure of nest aggregations and drone congregations of the southeast Asian stingless bee Trigona collina. Mol Ecol 2004; 13:2357-64. [PMID: 15245407 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-294x.2004.02194.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
In stingless bees, sex is determined by a single complementary sex-determining locus. This method of sex determination imposes a severe cost of inbreeding because an egg fertilized by sperm carrying the same sex allele as the egg results in a sterile diploid male. To explore how reproductive strategies may be used to avoid inbreeding in stingless bees, we studied the genetic structure of a population of 27 colonies and three drone congregations of Trigona collina in Chanthaburi, Thailand. The colonies were distributed across six nest aggregations, each aggregation located in the base of a different fig tree. Genetic analysis at eight microsatellite loci showed that colonies within aggregations were not related. Samples taken from three drone congregations showed that the males were drawn from a large number of colonies (estimated to be 132 different colonies in our largest swarm). No drone had a genotype indicating that it could have originated from the colony that it was directly outside. Combined, these results suggest that movements of drones and possibly movements of reproductive swarms among colony aggregations provide two mechanisms of inbreeding avoidance.
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Affiliation(s)
- E C Cameron
- School of Biological Sciences A12, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
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Low mating frequency of queens in the stingless bee Scaptotrigona postica 1 and worker maternity of males. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2003. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-002-0561-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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Tóth E, Strassmann JE, Nogueira-Neto P, Imperatriz-Fonseca VL, Queller DC. Male production in stingless bees: variable outcomes of queen-worker conflict. Mol Ecol 2002; 11:2661-7. [PMID: 12453248 DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-294x.2002.01625.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
The genetic structure of social insect colonies is predicted to affect the balance between cooperation and conflict. Stingless bees are of special interest in this respect because they are singly mated relatives of the multiply mated honeybees. Multiple mating is predicted to lead to workers policing each others' male production with the result that virtually all males are produced by the queen, and this prediction is borne out in honey bees. Single mating by the queen, as in stingless bees, causes workers to be more related to each others' sons than to the queen's sons, so they should not police each other. We used microsatellite markers to confirm single mating in eight species of stingless bees and then tested the prediction that workers would produce males. Using a likelihood method, we found some worker male production in six of the eight species, although queens produced some males in all of them. Thus the predicted contrast with honeybees is observed, but not perfectly, perhaps because workers either lack complete control or because of costs of conflict. The data are consistent with the view that there is ongoing conflict over male production. Our method of estimating worker male production appears to be more accurate than exclusion, which sometimes underestimates the proportion of males that are worker produced.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eva Tóth
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Rice University, PO Box 1892, Houston, Texas 77251, USA.
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Paxton RJ, Ayasse M, Field J, Soro A. Complex sociogenetic organization and reproductive skew in a primitively eusocial sweat bee, Lasioglossum malachurum, as revealed by microsatellites. Mol Ecol 2002; 11:2405-16. [PMID: 12406250 DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-294x.2002.01620.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
The sweat bees (Family Halictidae) are a socially diverse taxon in which eusociality has arisen independently numerous times. The obligate, primitively eusocial Lasioglossum malachurum, distributed widely throughout Europe, has been considered the zenith of sociality within halictids. A single queen heads a colony of smaller daughter workers which, by mid-summer, produce new sexuals (males and gynes), of which only the mated gynes overwinter to found new colonies the following spring. We excavated successfully 18 nests during the worker- and gyne-producing phases of the colony cycle and analysed each nest's queen and either all workers or all gynes using highly variable microsatellite loci developed specifically for this species. Three important points arise from our analyses. First, queens are facultatively polyandrous (queen effective mating frequency: range 1-3, harmonic mean 1.13). Second, queens may head colonies containing unrelated individuals (n = 6 of 18 nests), most probably a consequence of colony usurpation during the early phase of the colony cycle before worker emergence. Third, nonqueen's workers may, but the queen's own workers do not, lay fertilized eggs in the presence of the queen that successfully develop into gynes, in agreement with so-called 'concession' models of reproductive skew.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert J Paxton
- Zoological Institute, University of Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 28, D-72076 Tübingen, Germany.
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