Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany.
Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany.
Curr Opin Insect Sci. 2022 Apr;50:100889. doi: 10.1016/j.cois.2022.100889. Epub 2022 Feb 15.
Social parasitism describes a fascinating way of life in which species exploit the altruistic behaviour of closely related, social species. Social parasites have repeatedly evolved in the social Hymenoptera, including ants, bees, and wasps. The common ancestry and shared (social) environment with their hosts facilitates the study of molecular adaptations to the parasitic lifestyle. Moreover, when social parasites are widespread and virulent, they exert strong selection pressure on their hosts, leading to the evolution of defense mechanisms and triggering a coevolutionary arms race. Recent advances in sequencing technology now make it possible to study the molecular basis of this coevolutionary process. In addition to describing the latest developments, we highlight open research questions that could be tackled with genomic, transcriptomic, or epigenetic data.
社会寄生现象描述了一种引人入胜的生活方式，其中一些物种利用与其亲缘关系密切的社会性物种的利他行为。社会性寄生生物在社会性膜翅目昆虫中反复进化，包括蚂蚁、蜜蜂和黄蜂。它们与宿主拥有共同的祖先和共同的（社会）环境，这有助于研究对寄生生活方式的分子适应。此外，当社会性寄生虫广泛存在且具有很强的传染性时，它们会对宿主施加强大的选择压力，导致防御机制的进化，并引发共同进化的军备竞赛。测序技术的最新进展现在使得研究这种共同进化过程的分子基础成为可能。除了描述最新的发展之外，我们还强调了可能需要基因组、转录组或表观遗传数据来解决的开放性研究问题。
