Campus Units
Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology, Entomology
Document Type
Article
Publication Version
Published Version
Publication Date
2017
Journal or Book Title
Proceedings of the Royal Society B
Volume
284
Issue
1857
First Page
20170651
DOI
10.1098/rspb.2017.0651
Abstract
The social and nutritional environments during early development have the potential to affect offspring traits, but the mechanisms and molecular underpinnings of these effects remain elusive. We used Polistes fuscatus paper wasps to dissect how maternally controlled factors (vibrational signals and nourishment) interact to induce different caste developmental trajectories in female offspring, leading to worker or reproductive (gyne) traits. We established a set of caste phenotype biomarkers in P. fuscatus females, finding that gyne-destined individuals had high expression of three caste-related genes hypothesized to have roles in diapause and mitochondrial metabolism. We then experimentally manipulated maternal vibrational signals (via artificial ‘antennal drumming’) and nourishment levels (via restricted foraging). We found that these caste-related biomarker genes were responsive to drumming, nourishment level or their interaction. Our results provide a striking example of the potent influence of maternal and nutritional effects in influencing transcriptional activity and developmental outcomes in offspring.
Rights
Works produced by employees of the U.S. Government as part of their official duties are not copyrighted within the U.S. The content of this document is not copyrighted.
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Jandt, Jennifer M.; Suryanarayanan, Sainath; Hermanson, John C.; Jeanne, Robert L.; and Toth, Amy L., "Maternal and nourishment factors interact to influence offspring developmental trajectories in social wasps" (2017). Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology Publications. 268.
https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/eeob_ag_pubs/268
Included in
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons, Entomology Commons, Molecular Genetics Commons
Comments
This article is published as Jandt, Jennifer M., Sainath Suryanarayanan, John C. Hermanson, Robert L. Jeanne, and Amy L. Toth. "Maternal and nourishment factors interact to influence offspring developmental trajectories in social wasps." Proc. R. Soc. B 284, no. 1857 (2017): 20170651. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2017.0651.