De Gasperin Ornela, Blacher Pierre, Choppin Marina, Chapuisat Michel
Red de Ecoetología, Instituto de Ecología A.C., Instituto de Ecología A.C., Xalapa, Veracruz, México.
Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Commun Biol. 2025 Jul 10;8(1):1035. doi: 10.1038/s42003-025-08438-5.
Supergenes are large clusters of linked genes that control complex phenotypes. In several ant clades, supergenes determine whether one or multiple queens reproduce in mature colonies, but how supergenes affect colony social structure has been inferred indirectly. We show experimentally that a supergene in Formica ant workers alters the social structure (single- or multi-queen) of developing colonies. We crossed queens and males carrying alternative social supergene genotypes, and let the queens establish single-queen colonies, which we paired in the laboratory. The presence of a paternally-inherited P haplotype in workers was sufficient to make the colonies more likely to fuse and become multi-queened, regardless of the genotype of their mother. The dominant effect of the P haplotype on colony social structure likely contributes to the spread of multi-queen colonies. This controlled experiment provides direct evidence that the P haplotype in workers steers social organization towards multiple queens during early colony ontogeny.
超级基因是控制复杂表型的连锁基因大簇。在几个蚂蚁进化枝中，超级基因决定成熟蚁群中是由一只还是多只蚁后繁殖，但超级基因如何影响蚁群社会结构一直是间接推断出来的。我们通过实验表明，蚁属蚂蚁工蚁中的一个超级基因会改变发育中蚁群的社会结构（单蚁后或多蚁后）。我们让携带不同社会超级基因基因型的蚁后和雄蚁杂交，让蚁后建立单蚁后蚁群，并在实验室中将它们配对。工蚁中父系遗传的P单倍型的存在足以使蚁群更有可能融合并变成多蚁后蚁群，无论其母亲的基因型如何。P单倍型对蚁群社会结构的主导作用可能有助于多蚁后蚁群的传播。这个对照实验提供了直接证据，证明工蚁中的P单倍型在蚁群早期个体发育过程中引导社会组织向多蚁后方向发展。
