Laboratoire d'Ethologie Expérimentale et Comparée, EA4443, Université Paris 13, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 99 Avenue J.B. Clément, 93430 Villetaneuse, France.
Curr Biol. 2013 Feb 18;23(4):328-32. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2013.01.011. Epub 2013 Jan 31.
In insect societies, worker policing controls genetic conflicts between individuals and increases colony efficiency. However, disentangling relatedness from colony-level effects is usually impossible. We studied policing in the parthenogenetic ant Cerapachys biroi, where genetic conflicts are absent due to clonality and reproduction is synchronized through stereotyped colony cycles. We show that larval cues regulate the cycles by suppressing ovarian activity and that individuals that fail to respond to these cues are policed and executed by their nestmates. These individuals are genetically identical to other colony members, confirming the absence of intracolonial genetic conflicts. At the same time, they bear distinct cuticular hydrocarbon profiles, which could serve as proximate recognition cues for policing. Policing in C. biroi keeps uncontrolled reproduction at bay and thereby maintains the colony-level phenotype. This study shows that policing can enforce adaptive colony-level phenotypes in societies with minimal or no potential genetic conflicts. In analogy to immunosurveillance on cancer cells in genetically homogeneous multicellular organisms, colony efficiency is improved via the control of individuals that do not respond properly to regulatory signals and compromise the functioning of the higher-level unit.
在昆虫社会中，工蜂的监督控制着个体之间的遗传冲突，提高了群体的效率。然而，将相关性与群体效应区分开来通常是不可能的。我们研究了孤雌生殖蚂蚁 Cerapachys biroi 的监督行为，由于克隆性的存在，遗传冲突不存在，并且通过刻板的群体周期使繁殖同步。我们表明，幼虫线索通过抑制卵巢活动来调节周期，而那些未能对这些线索做出反应的个体则会被巢友监督和处决。这些个体在遗传上与其他群体成员相同，证实了群体内部不存在遗传冲突。与此同时，它们具有明显不同的表皮碳氢化合物特征，可以作为监督的近似识别线索。C. biroi 的监督行为可以防止不受控制的繁殖，从而维持了群体水平的表型。这项研究表明，在潜在遗传冲突最小或不存在的社会中，监督可以强制实施适应性的群体水平表型。类似于在遗传同质的多细胞生物中对癌细胞的免疫监视，通过控制那些不能对调节信号做出适当反应并损害更高层次单位功能的个体，可以提高群体效率。
