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The molecular basis of socially mediated phenotypic plasticity in a eusocial paper wasp
- Source :
- Nature Communications, Vol 12, Iss 1, Pp 1-10 (2021), Nature Communications
- Publication Year :
- 2021
- Publisher :
- Nature Portfolio, 2021.
-
Abstract
- Phenotypic plasticity, the ability to produce multiple phenotypes from a single genotype, represents an excellent model with which to examine the relationship between gene expression and phenotypes. Analyses of the molecular foundations of phenotypic plasticity are challenging, however, especially in the case of complex social phenotypes. Here we apply a machine learning approach to tackle this challenge by analyzing individual-level gene expression profiles of Polistes dominula paper wasps following the loss of a queen. We find that caste-associated gene expression profiles respond strongly to queen loss, and that this change is partly explained by attributes such as age but occurs even in individuals that appear phenotypically unaffected. These results demonstrate that large changes in gene expression may occur in the absence of outwardly detectable phenotypic changes, resulting here in a socially mediated de-differentiation of individuals at the transcriptomic level but not at the levels of ovarian development or behavior.<br />Connecting genotypes to complex social behaviour is challenging. Taylor et al. use machine learning to show a strong response of caste-associated gene expression to queen loss, wherein individual wasp’s expression profiles become intermediate between queen and worker states, even in the absence of behavioural changes.
- Subjects :
- 0106 biological sciences
0301 basic medicine
Bioinformatics
Science
Wasps
education
Gene regulatory network
General Physics and Astronomy
Polistes dominula
010603 evolutionary biology
01 natural sciences
Article
General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
Machine Learning
03 medical and health sciences
Gene expression
Animals
Humans
Gene Regulatory Networks
Social Behavior
Paper wasp
Phenotypic plasticity
Multidisciplinary
biology
Gene Expression Profiling
Computational Biology
General Chemistry
Animal behaviour
biology.organism_classification
Adaptation, Physiological
Phenotype
Eusociality
Gene Ontology
030104 developmental biology
Evolutionary biology
Female
Adaptation
Transcriptome
Entomology
Algorithms
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 20411723
- Volume :
- 12
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Nature Communications
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....dfcb7a7730319b0416ce643df79664ed