Social complexity, life-history and lineage influence the molecular basis of castes in vespid wasps

Christopher Douglas Robert Wyatt (), Michael Andrew Bentley, Daisy Taylor, Emeline Favreau, Ryan Edward Brock, Benjamin Aaron Taylor, Emily Bell, Ellouise Leadbeater and Seirian Sumner ()
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Christopher Douglas Robert Wyatt: University College London
Michael Andrew Bentley: University College London
Daisy Taylor: University of Bristol
Emeline Favreau: University College London
Ryan Edward Brock: University of Bristol
Benjamin Aaron Taylor: University College London
Emily Bell: University of Bristol
Ellouise Leadbeater: Royal Holloway University of London
Seirian Sumner: University College London

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-16

Abstract: Abstract A key mechanistic hypothesis for the evolution of division of labour in social insects is that a shared set of genes co-opted from a common solitary ancestral ground plan (a genetic toolkit for sociality) regulates caste differentiation across levels of social complexity. Using brain transcriptome data from nine species of vespid wasps, we test for overlap in differentially expressed caste genes and use machine learning models to predict castes using different gene sets. We find evidence of a shared genetic toolkit across species representing different levels of social complexity. We also find evidence of additional fine-scale differences in predictive gene sets, functional enrichment and rates of gene evolution that are related to level of social complexity, lineage and of colony founding. These results suggest that the concept of a shared genetic toolkit for sociality may be too simplistic to fully describe the process of the major transition to sociality.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-36456-6

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