| Autor: |
Koubová J; Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, České Budějovice, Czech Republic.; Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, Czech Republic., Pangrácová M; Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic.; Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic., Jankásek M; Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic., Lukšan O; Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic., Jehlík T; Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, České Budějovice, Czech Republic.; Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, Czech Republic., Brabcová J; Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic., Jedlička P; Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic.; Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic., Křivánek J; Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic., Čapková Frydrychová R; Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, České Budějovice, Czech Republic.; Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, Czech Republic., Hanus R; Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic. |
| Abstrakt: |
Kings and queens of termites, like queens of other advanced eusocial insects, are endowed with admirable longevity, which dramatically exceeds the life expectancies of their non-reproducing nest-mates and related solitary insects. In the quest to find the mechanisms underlying the longevity of termite reproductives, we focused on somatic maintenance mediated by telomerase. This ribonucleoprotein is well established for pro-longevity functions in vertebrates, thanks primarily to its ability of telomere extension. However, its participation in lifespan regulation of insects, including the eusocial taxa, remains understudied. Here, we report a conspicuous increase of telomerase abundance and catalytic activity in the somatic organs of primary and secondary reproductives of the termite Prorhinotermes simplex and confirm a similar pattern in two other termite species. These observations stand in contrast with the telomerase downregulation characteristic for most adult somatic tissues in vertebrates and also in solitary insects and non-reproducing castes of termites. At the same time, we did not observe caste-specific differences in telomere lengths that might explain the differential longevity of termite castes. We conclude that although the telomerase activation in termite reproductives is in line with the broadly assumed association between telomerase and longevity, its direct phenotypic impact remains to be elucidated. |
