Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Biozentrum, Hanns Dieter Hüsch Weg 15, D-55128 Mainz, Germany.
Molecular Ecology Group, Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (SBiK-F), Georg-Voigt-Str. 14-16, D-60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Biol Lett. 2021 Feb;17(2):20200909. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2020.0909. Epub 2021 Feb 17.
In most organisms, fecundity and longevity are negatively associated and the molecular regulation of these two life-history traits is highly interconnected. In addition, nutrient intake often has opposing effects on lifespan and reproduction. In contrast to solitary insects, the main reproductive individual of social hymenopterans, the queen, is also the most long-lived. During development, queen larvae are well-nourished, but we are only beginning to understand the impact of nutrition on the queens' adult life and the molecular regulation and connectivity of fecundity and longevity. Here, we used two experimental manipulations to alter queen fecundity in the ant and investigated associated changes in fat body gene expression. Egg removal triggered a fecundity increase, leading to expression changes in genes with functions in fecundity such as oogenesis and body maintenance. Dietary restriction lowered the egg production of queens and altered the expression of genes linked to autophagy, Toll signalling, cellular homeostasis and immunity. Our study reveals that an experimental increase in fecundity causes the co-activation of reproduction and body maintenance mechanisms, shedding light on the molecular regulation of the link between longevity and fecundity in social insects.
在大多数生物中，繁殖力和寿命呈负相关，这两种生命史特征的分子调控高度相互关联。此外，营养摄入通常对寿命和繁殖有相反的影响。与独居昆虫不同，群居膜翅目昆虫的主要繁殖个体——蜂王也是寿命最长的个体。在发育过程中，蜂王幼虫得到了很好的营养供应，但我们才刚刚开始了解营养对蜂王成年后的生活以及繁殖力和寿命的分子调控和连接的影响。在这里，我们使用了两种实验操作来改变蚂蚁中的蜂王繁殖力，并研究了与脂肪体基因表达相关的变化。卵去除引发了繁殖力的增加，导致与卵子发生和身体维持等繁殖功能相关的基因表达发生变化。饮食限制降低了蜂王的产卵量，并改变了与自噬、Toll 信号、细胞内稳态和免疫相关的基因的表达。我们的研究表明，繁殖力的实验性增加导致生殖和身体维持机制的共同激活，揭示了群居昆虫中长寿和繁殖力之间联系的分子调控。
