This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: A group of genes may give some fire ants an advantage, increasing their chances of growing larger and potentially becoming queens, according to a new study from the University of Georgia. The findings, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, offer new insight into how genetics influence ant development and how certain genes improve their own chances of being passed to future generations.
Some fire ant colonies have a single egg-laying queen, while others have multiple queens. A special group of genes, called a supergene, helps determine colony organization. A supergene is a collection of genes inherited together as a package.
In fire ants, this particular supergene contains more than 500 genes and is associated with colonies that have multiple queens. "We call them supergenes because the genes are tightly linked and inherited together, almost like one big gene," explained Brendan Hunt, an associate professor in UGA's College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences entomology department and a co-author of the study. Hunt and fellow entomologist Haolin "Horace" Zeng wanted to understand if that same supergene influences how individual ants grow.
In a fire ant colony, most ants are workers that spend their lives gathering food, defending the nest and caring for the young. Unlike workers, queens reproduce, passing their genes to the next generation. Smaller workers generally care for young ants and maintain the nest, while larger workers are more likely to search for food.
Queens are the largest of all. Scientists already knew that nutrition, environmental conditions and interactions with other ants help determine whether a developing ant becomes a worker or a queen. The UGA researchers wanted to know whether genetics could also tip the scales.
To investigate, the team studied developing fire ants with and without the supergene. They focused on juvenile hormone, a chemical that helps control insect development. Unlike animals that grow larger by growing faster, fire ants can become bigger by spending more time feeding as larvae before reaching adulthood.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
