For decades biologists have Fifa 14 Coins tried to uncover the geneticreasoning behind such different behaviours being displayed withinone species, behaviours which go deep into explaining the colonystructure as a whole. While monogyne ants appear inherentlyaggressive and are threatened by intruders, a polygyne colony ispredisposed Cheap Fifa 14 Coins to accept strangers and only gets its guard up if amonogyne queen infringes on it (in which case, she isslaughtered).
Thanks to genome sequencing, we finally have an answer.
In the hunt to identify the gene or group of genes responsible fordictating social behaviour in fire ants, the team -- headed up byLaurentKeller of Lausanne University -- had alreadysequenced the fire ant genome. Differences in monogyne and polygyneants' Gp-9 gene had already been identified in the 90s, so this iswhere their investigation focused. After studying the DNA of 500specimens it became clear that the ants' behavioural differencesare built into their DNA in a similar way to how gender is.
Ordinarily, genetic information from two parents is muddled tomake new and unique genetic encoding. This process is referred toas recombination. However, when it comes to sex chromosomes, onechunk of genetic information located in the Y-chromosome is unableto recombine. The Y-chromosome has evolved to retain the genetic information thatensures important male characteristics are never muddled in a geneexchange. Keller and his team found that a similar suppression ofthe recombination practice is happening in fire ant DNA, aroundwhere the Gp-9 gene is located. It's located within a pair ofheteromorphic chromosomes (two chromosomes that share somecharacteristics but are not identical), with the two possibleversions referred to as social B (SB) and social b (Sb). They foundthat 55 percent of the chromosome is unable to recombine, with atotal of 616 genes retained and inherited. SB chromosomes canexchange information between each other, but genetic informationcannot be crossed between SB and Sb, as in sex chromosomes.Therefore, as the paper states, locally limiting recombination isresponsible for the inherited traits.
Thanks to genome sequencing, we finally have an answer.
In the hunt to identify the gene or group of genes responsible fordictating social behaviour in fire ants, the team -- headed up byLaurentKeller of Lausanne University -- had alreadysequenced the fire ant genome. Differences in monogyne and polygyneants' Gp-9 gene had already been identified in the 90s, so this iswhere their investigation focused. After studying the DNA of 500specimens it became clear that the ants' behavioural differencesare built into their DNA in a similar way to how gender is.
Ordinarily, genetic information from two parents is muddled tomake new and unique genetic encoding. This process is referred toas recombination. However, when it comes to sex chromosomes, onechunk of genetic information located in the Y-chromosome is unableto recombine. The Y-chromosome has evolved to retain the genetic information thatensures important male characteristics are never muddled in a geneexchange. Keller and his team found that a similar suppression ofthe recombination practice is happening in fire ant DNA, aroundwhere the Gp-9 gene is located. It's located within a pair ofheteromorphic chromosomes (two chromosomes that share somecharacteristics but are not identical), with the two possibleversions referred to as social B (SB) and social b (Sb). They foundthat 55 percent of the chromosome is unable to recombine, with atotal of 616 genes retained and inherited. SB chromosomes canexchange information between each other, but genetic informationcannot be crossed between SB and Sb, as in sex chromosomes.Therefore, as the paper states, locally limiting recombination isresponsible for the inherited traits.
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