Jandt Jennifer M, Suryanarayanan Sainath, Hermanson John C, Jeanne Robert L, Toth Amy L
Department of Zoology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA.
Proc Biol Sci. 2017 Jun 28;284(1857). doi: 10.1098/rspb.2017.0651.
The social and nutritional environments during early development have the potential to affect offspring traits, but the mechanisms and molecular underpinnings of these effects remain elusive. We used paper wasps to dissect how maternally controlled factors (vibrational signals and nourishment) interact to induce different caste developmental trajectories in female offspring, leading to worker or reproductive (gyne) traits. We established a set of caste phenotype biomarkers in females, finding that gyne-destined individuals had high expression of three caste-related genes hypothesized to have roles in diapause and mitochondrial metabolism. We then experimentally manipulated maternal vibrational signals (via artificial 'antennal drumming') and nourishment levels (via restricted foraging). We found that these caste-related biomarker genes were responsive to drumming, nourishment level or their interaction. Our results provide a striking example of the potent influence of maternal and nutritional effects in influencing transcriptional activity and developmental outcomes in offspring.
早期发育过程中的社会和营养环境有可能影响后代的性状，但这些影响的机制和分子基础仍不清楚。我们利用胡蜂来剖析母体控制因素（振动信号和营养）如何相互作用，以诱导雌性后代出现不同的品级发育轨迹，从而产生工蜂或生殖型（蚁后）性状。我们在雌性个体中建立了一套品级表型生物标志物，发现注定成为蚁后的个体中，三个假定在滞育和线粒体代谢中起作用的与品级相关的基因表达水平较高。然后，我们通过实验操纵母体振动信号（通过人工“触角敲击”）和营养水平（通过限制觅食）。我们发现，这些与品级相关的生物标志物基因对敲击、营养水平或它们的相互作用有反应。我们的研究结果提供了一个显著的例子，说明母体和营养效应在影响后代转录活性和发育结果方面具有强大的影响力。
