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Science 24 October 2008:
Vol. 322. no. 5901, p. 552
DOI: 10.1126/science.1162590
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Brevia

Genetic Compatibility Affects Queen and Worker Caste Determination

Tanja Schwander*{dagger} and Laurent Keller

The development of queen and worker phenotypes in ants has been believed to be largely determined from environmental effects. We provide evidence that the production of discrete phenotypes is also influenced by genetic interaction effects. During the development of eggs into adults, some patrilines among offspring of multiply mated Pogonomyrmex rugosus ant queens became more common in workers while others became overrepresented in queens. Controlled crosses showed that these changes stem from some parental genome combinations being compatible for producing one phenotype but less compatible for the other. Genetic interaction effects on caste may be maintained over evolutionary time because the fitness of an allele depends on its genetic background.

Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.

* Present address: Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada.

{dagger} To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: tanja.schwander{at}gmail.com

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
The Potential for Gene Flow in a Dependent Lineage System of a Harvester Ant: Fair Meiosis in the F1 Generation.
M. M. Curry, D. E. Wheeler, K. Yang, and K. E. Anderson (2009)
J. Hered.
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Adaptation and the genetics of social behaviour.
L. Keller (2009)
Phil Trans R Soc B 364, 3209-3216
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