Vizueta Joel, Xiong Zijun, Ding Guo, Larsen Rasmus S, Ran Hao, Gao Qionghua, Stiller Josefin, Dai Wei, Jiang Wei, Zhao Jie, Guo Chunxue, Zhang Xiafang, Zuo Dashuang, Zhong Wenjiang, Schiøtt Morten, Liu Chengyuan, Zhang Hailin, Dai Xueqin, Andreu Ignasi, Shi Yue, Tretter Sandra, He Ding, Gautam Shubham, Li Zelin, Hickey Glenn, Ivens Aniek B F, Meurville Marie-Pierre, Hita-Garcia Francisco, Kass Jamie M, Guénard Benoit, Moreau Corrie, Paten Benedict, LeBoeuf Adria C, Economo Evan P, Chapuisat Michel, Shik Jonathan Z, Ward Philip S, Heinze Jürgen, Schultz Ted R, Li Qiye, Dunn Robert R, Sanders Nathan J, Liu Weiwei, Schrader Lukas, Boomsma Jacobus J, Zhang Guojie
Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
State Key Laboratory of Genetic Evolution & Animal Models, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 650201 Kunming, China; BGI Research, Wuhan, China.
Cell. 2025 Sep 4;188(18):4828-4848.e25. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2025.05.030. Epub 2025 Jun 16.
Ants originated over 150 million years ago through an irreversible transition to superorganismal colony life. Comparative analyses of 163 ant genomes, including newly generated whole-genome sequences of 145 ant species, reveal extensive genome rearrangements correlated with speciation rates. Meanwhile, conserved syntenic blocks are enriched with co-expressed genes involved in basal metabolism and caste differentiation. Gene families related to digestion, endocrine signaling, cuticular hydrocarbon synthesis, and chemoreception expanded in the ant ancestor, while many caste-associated genes underwent positive selection in the formicoid ancestor. Elaborations and reductions of queen-worker dimorphism and other social traits left convergent signatures of intensified or relaxed selection in conserved signaling and metabolic pathways, suggesting that a core gene set was used to diversify organizational complexity. Previously uncharacterized genetic regulators of caste development were confirmed by functional experiments. This study reconstructs the genetic underpinning of social traits and their integration within gene-regulatory networks shaping caste phenotypes.
蚂蚁起源于1.5亿多年前，通过向超个体群体生活的不可逆转变而来。对163个蚂蚁基因组的比较分析，包括新生成的145种蚂蚁物种的全基因组序列，揭示了与物种形成速率相关的广泛基因组重排。同时，保守的同线基因座富含参与基础代谢和种型分化的共表达基因。与消化、内分泌信号传导、表皮碳氢化合物合成和化学感受相关的基因家族在蚂蚁祖先中发生了扩张，而许多与种型相关的基因在蚁总科祖先中经历了正选择。蚁后 - 工蚁二态性和其他社会特征的细化和减少在保守的信号传导和代谢途径中留下了强化或放松选择的趋同特征，这表明一组核心基因被用于使组织复杂性多样化。通过功能实验证实了以前未表征的种型发育遗传调节因子。这项研究重建了社会特征的遗传基础及其在塑造种型表型的基因调控网络中的整合。
