Caste-specific RNA editomes in the leaf-cutting ant Acromyrmex echinatior

Qiye Li, Zongji Wang, Jinmin Lian, Morten Schiøtt, Lijun Jin, Pei Zhang, Yanyan Zhang, Sanne Nygaard, Zhiyu Peng, Yang Zhou, Yuan Deng, Wenwei Zhang, Jacobus J. Boomsma () and Guojie Zhang ()
Additional contact information
Qiye Li: School of Bioscience and Bioengineering, South China University of Technology
Zongji Wang: School of Bioscience and Bioengineering, South China University of Technology
Jinmin Lian: China National GeneBank, BGI-Shenzhen, Building No. 11, Beishan Industrial Zone, Yantian District, Shenzhen 518083, China
Morten Schiøtt: Centre for Social Evolution, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
Lijun Jin: China National GeneBank, BGI-Shenzhen, Building No. 11, Beishan Industrial Zone, Yantian District, Shenzhen 518083, China
Pei Zhang: China National GeneBank, BGI-Shenzhen, Building No. 11, Beishan Industrial Zone, Yantian District, Shenzhen 518083, China
Yanyan Zhang: BGI-Shenzhen
Sanne Nygaard: Centre for Social Evolution, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
Zhiyu Peng: BGI-Shenzhen
Yang Zhou: School of Bioscience and Bioengineering, South China University of Technology
Yuan Deng: China National GeneBank, BGI-Shenzhen, Building No. 11, Beishan Industrial Zone, Yantian District, Shenzhen 518083, China
Wenwei Zhang: BGI-Shenzhen
Jacobus J. Boomsma: Centre for Social Evolution, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
Guojie Zhang: China National GeneBank, BGI-Shenzhen, Building No. 11, Beishan Industrial Zone, Yantian District, Shenzhen 518083, China

Nature Communications, 2014, vol. 5, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract Eusocial insects have evolved the capacity to generate adults with distinct morphological, reproductive and behavioural phenotypes from the same genome. Recent studies suggest that RNA editing might enhance the diversity of gene products at the post-transcriptional level, particularly to induce functional changes in the nervous system. Using head samples from the leaf-cutting ant Acromyrmex echinatior, we compare RNA editomes across eusocial castes, identifying ca. 11,000 RNA editing sites in gynes, large workers and small workers. Those editing sites map to 800 genes functionally enriched for neurotransmission, circadian rhythm, temperature response, RNA splicing and carboxylic acid biosynthesis. Most A. echinatior editing sites are species specific, but 8–23% are conserved across ant subfamilies and likely to have been important for the evolution of eusociality in ants. The level of editing varies for the same site between castes, suggesting that RNA editing might be a general mechanism that shapes caste behaviour in ants.

Date: 2014
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms5943 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:5:y:2014:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms5943

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/ncomms5943

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().