Noh Pureum, Oh Seung-Yoon, Park Soyeon, Kwon Taesung, Kim Yonghwan, Choe Jae Chun, Jeong Gilsang
Division of EcoScience Ewha Womans University Seoul Korea.
National Institute of Ecology Seochun-gun Korea.
Ecol Evol. 2020 Jul 28;10(16):8827-8837. doi: 10.1002/ece3.6582. eCollection 2020 Aug.
Many eusocial insects, including ants, show complex colony structures, distributions, and reproductive strategies. In the ant Wheeler (Hymenoptera: Myrmicinae), queens and males are produced clonally, while sterile workers arise sexually, unlike other ant species and Hymenopteran insects in general. Furthermore, there is a wing length polymorphism in the queen caste. Despite its evolutionary remarkable traits, little is known about the population structure of this ant species, which may provide insight into its unique reproductive mode and polymorphic traits. We performed in-depth analyses of ant populations from Korea, Japan, and North America using three mitochondrial genes (COI, COII, and Cytb). The long-winged (L) morph is predominant in Korean populations, and the short-winged (S) morph is very rare. Interestingly, all L morphs were infected with , while all Korean S morphs lacked , demonstrating a association between a symbiont and a phenotypic trait. A phylogenetic analysis revealed that the S morph is derived from the L morph. We propose that the S morph is associated with potential resistance to infection and that infection does not influence clonal reproduction (as is the case in other ant species).
许多群居昆虫，包括蚂蚁，都展现出复杂的群体结构、分布和繁殖策略。在惠勒蚁（膜翅目：蚁亚科）中，蚁后和雄蚁通过无性生殖产生，而不育的工蚁则通过有性生殖产生，这与其他蚁种以及一般的膜翅目昆虫不同。此外，蚁后阶层存在翅长多态性。尽管该蚁种具有显著的进化特征，但人们对其种群结构知之甚少，而这可能有助于深入了解其独特的繁殖模式和多态性特征。我们利用三个线粒体基因（细胞色素氧化酶亚基I、细胞色素氧化酶亚基II和细胞色素b）对来自韩国、日本和北美的蚁群进行了深入分析。长翅型（L）在韩国种群中占主导地位，短翅型（S）则非常罕见。有趣的是，所有长翅型都感染了[某种共生菌]，而所有韩国短翅型都未感染[该共生菌]，这表明共生菌与一种表型特征之间存在关联。系统发育分析表明，短翅型源自长翅型。我们推测，短翅型与对[该共生菌]感染的潜在抗性有关，并且[该共生菌]感染不会影响无性生殖（其他蚁种的情况则不同）。
