Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.
Evolution of the Gene Network Underlying Wing Polyphenism in Ants
Ehab Abouheif,*Gregory A. Wray
Wing polyphenism in ants evolved once, 125 million
years ago, and has been a key to their amazing evolutionary success. Wecharacterized the expression of several genes within the networkunderlying the wing primordia of reproductive (winged) and sterile(wingless) ant castes. We show that the expression of severalgenes
within the network is conserved in the winged castes offour ant
species, whereas points of interruption within the networkin the
wingless castes are evolutionarily labile. The simultaneousevolutionary lability and conservation of the network underlyingwing
development in ants may have played an important role inthe
morphological diversification of this group and may be a generalfeature of polyphenic development and evolution in plants andanimals.
Department of Biology, Duke University, Post Office Box 90338, Durham, NC 27708, USA.
*
To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail:
abouheif{at}duke.edu
Phylogeny, scaling, and the generation of extreme forces in trap-jaw ants.
J. C. Spagna, A. I. Vakis, C. A. Schmidt, S. N. Patek, X. Zhang, N. D. Tsutsui, and A. V. Suarez (2008)
J. Exp. Biol.
211, 2358-2368
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Variable gene expression in eukaryotes: a network perspective.
Venomous protease of aphid soldier for colony defense.
M. Kutsukake, H. Shibao, N. Nikoh, M. Morioka, T. Tamura, T. Hoshino, S. Ohgiya, and T. Fukatsu (2004)
PNAS
101, 11338-11343
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Caste determination in a polyembryonic wasp involves inheritance of germ cells.
D. M. Donnell, L. S. Corley, G. Chen, and M. R. Strand (2004)
PNAS
101, 10095-10100
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Genotype to Phenotype: Physiological Control of Trait Size and Scaling in Insects.
The Evolution of Transcriptional Regulation in Eukaryotes.
G. A. Wray, M. W. Hahn, E. Abouheif, J. P. Balhoff, M. Pizer, M. V. Rockman, and L. A. Romano (2003)
Mol. Biol. Evol.
20, 1377-1419
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
The Anopheles Genome and Comparative Insect Genomics.
T. C. Kaufman, D. W. Severson, and G. E. Robinson (2002)
Science
298, 97-98
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »