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Transcriptomic and Functional Analyses of Phenotypic Plasticity in a Higher Termite, Macrotermes barneyi Light

Eusocial termites have a complex caste system, which leads to the division of labor. Previous studies offered some insight into the caste differentiation in lower termites; however, few studies were focusing on the molecular mechanisms of higher termites with sophisticated societies. Comparative tra...

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Autores principales: Sun, Pengdong, Li, Ganghua, Jian, Jianbo, Liu, Long, Chen, Junhui, Yu, Shuxin, Xu, Huan, Lei, Chaoliang, Zhou, Xuguo, Huang, Qiuying
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6797822/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31681415
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2019.00964
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author Sun, Pengdong
Li, Ganghua
Jian, Jianbo
Liu, Long
Chen, Junhui
Yu, Shuxin
Xu, Huan
Lei, Chaoliang
Zhou, Xuguo
Huang, Qiuying
author_facet Sun, Pengdong
Li, Ganghua
Jian, Jianbo
Liu, Long
Chen, Junhui
Yu, Shuxin
Xu, Huan
Lei, Chaoliang
Zhou, Xuguo
Huang, Qiuying
author_sort Sun, Pengdong
collection PubMed
description Eusocial termites have a complex caste system, which leads to the division of labor. Previous studies offered some insight into the caste differentiation in lower termites; however, few studies were focusing on the molecular mechanisms of higher termites with sophisticated societies. Comparative transcriptomic analyses of five immature castes of a higher termite, Macrotermes barneyi Light, suggest that phenotypic plasticity is modulated by an array of transcriptional changes, including differentially expressed genes (e.g., caste-biased genes Vtg and TnC), co-expression networks (e.g., genes associated with nymph reproduction), and alternative splicing (e.g., events related to muscle development in presoldiers). Transcriptional (RT-PCR and RT-qPCR) and functional (in vivo RNAi) validation studies reveal multiple molecular mechanisms contributing to the phenotypic plasticity in eusocial termites. Molecular mechanisms governing the phenotypic plasticity in M. barneyi could be a rule rather than an exception in the evolution of sociality.
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spelling pubmed-67978222019-11-01 Transcriptomic and Functional Analyses of Phenotypic Plasticity in a Higher Termite, Macrotermes barneyi Light Sun, Pengdong Li, Ganghua Jian, Jianbo Liu, Long Chen, Junhui Yu, Shuxin Xu, Huan Lei, Chaoliang Zhou, Xuguo Huang, Qiuying Front Genet Genetics Eusocial termites have a complex caste system, which leads to the division of labor. Previous studies offered some insight into the caste differentiation in lower termites; however, few studies were focusing on the molecular mechanisms of higher termites with sophisticated societies. Comparative transcriptomic analyses of five immature castes of a higher termite, Macrotermes barneyi Light, suggest that phenotypic plasticity is modulated by an array of transcriptional changes, including differentially expressed genes (e.g., caste-biased genes Vtg and TnC), co-expression networks (e.g., genes associated with nymph reproduction), and alternative splicing (e.g., events related to muscle development in presoldiers). Transcriptional (RT-PCR and RT-qPCR) and functional (in vivo RNAi) validation studies reveal multiple molecular mechanisms contributing to the phenotypic plasticity in eusocial termites. Molecular mechanisms governing the phenotypic plasticity in M. barneyi could be a rule rather than an exception in the evolution of sociality. Frontiers Media S.A. 2019-10-04 /pmc/articles/PMC6797822/ /pubmed/31681415 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2019.00964 Text en Copyright © 2019 Sun, Li, Jian, Liu, Chen, Yu, Xu, Lei, Zhou and Huang http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Genetics
Sun, Pengdong
Li, Ganghua
Jian, Jianbo
Liu, Long
Chen, Junhui
Yu, Shuxin
Xu, Huan
Lei, Chaoliang
Zhou, Xuguo
Huang, Qiuying
Transcriptomic and Functional Analyses of Phenotypic Plasticity in a Higher Termite, Macrotermes barneyi Light
title Transcriptomic and Functional Analyses of Phenotypic Plasticity in a Higher Termite, Macrotermes barneyi Light
title_full Transcriptomic and Functional Analyses of Phenotypic Plasticity in a Higher Termite, Macrotermes barneyi Light
title_fullStr Transcriptomic and Functional Analyses of Phenotypic Plasticity in a Higher Termite, Macrotermes barneyi Light
title_full_unstemmed Transcriptomic and Functional Analyses of Phenotypic Plasticity in a Higher Termite, Macrotermes barneyi Light
title_short Transcriptomic and Functional Analyses of Phenotypic Plasticity in a Higher Termite, Macrotermes barneyi Light
title_sort transcriptomic and functional analyses of phenotypic plasticity in a higher termite, macrotermes barneyi light
topic Genetics
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6797822/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31681415
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2019.00964
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