Influence of environmental conditions on the expression of the sexual dispersal phenotype in a lower termite: implications for the evolution of workers in termites

Evolution & Development
Judith Korb, Stephania Katrantzis

Abstract

Phenotypic plasticity is thought to be of prime importance for the evolution of castes in social insects. However, conclusions are generally drawn from holometabolous social Hymenoptera, whereas little is known about the hemimetabolous termites. We investigated the influence of environmental conditions on the expression of the alternative phenotypes, worker versus dispersing sexual, in the drywood termite Cryptotermes secundus. Season played a fundamental role in this regulatory process by setting developmental deadlines. Individuals failing to reach these deadlines developed back to workers, whereas those in time progressed to dispersing sexuals. This seasonal regulation was superposed by the influence of food availability in the nest that adjusted the number of remaining workers versus dispersing sexuals. In line with declining benefits at the natal nest, there were more dispersing sexuals when the food was reduced. Provided that the life type of C. secundus reflects the ancestral state in termite evolution, as is often assumed, our results support the hypothesis that termite workers originated from individuals failing in sexual development. Furthermore, a taxonomical comparison between termite species with different life-sty...Continue Reading

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Citations

Jun 23, 2009·Molecular Biology and Evolution·Tobias WeilMichael Rehli
Dec 7, 2006·Biology Letters·Judith Korb
Aug 28, 2009·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Theodore A EvansMichael Lenz
Mar 28, 2009·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Andrew F Russell, Virpi Lummaa
Nov 4, 2008·Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society·Judith Korb, Klaus Hartfelder
Nov 10, 2007·Science·Yoshinobu HayashiOsamu Kitade
Feb 24, 2007·Frontiers in Zoology·Judith Korb
Sep 30, 2008·Frontiers in Zoology·Judith Korb
Jul 24, 2014·Molecular Biology and Evolution·Katharina HoffmannJudith Korb
Sep 25, 2012·Journal of Evolutionary Biology·Judith Korb, E A Roux
Mar 18, 2011·Evolution & Development·Laurianne LeniaudAnne-Geneviève Bagnères
Jun 30, 2010·Ecology Letters·Judith Korb, Kevin R Foster
Sep 30, 2016·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·R PigeaultS Gandon
Jul 30, 2020·Ecology and Evolution·Nobuaki Mizumoto, Thomas Bourguignon
Mar 9, 2021·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Judith Korb, Jürgen Heinze
Mar 9, 2021·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Veronika Rau, Judith Korb
Mar 9, 2021·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Boris H KramerAbel Bernadou
Mar 9, 2021·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Judith KorbUNKNOWN So-Long consortium
May 13, 2021·BMC Genomics·José Manuel Monroy KuhnJudith Korb

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