An oxytocin/vasopressin-related neuropeptide modulates social foraging behavior in the clonal raider ant

Autor: Margaret S. Ebert, Asaf Gal, Leonora Olivos-Cisneros, Yuko Ulrich, Manija A. Kazmi, Taylor Hart, Ingrid Fetter-Pruneda, Peter R. Oxley, Cornelia I. Bargmann, Jennifer L. Garrison, Daniel J. C. Kronauer
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
0301 basic medicine
Aging
Life Cycles
Social Sciences
Insect
Oxytocin
Social group
Larvae
0302 clinical medicine
Short Reports
Sociology
Nest
Psychology
Foraging
Biology (General)
media_common
Behavior
Animal
Animal Behavior
General Neuroscience
Brain
Eukaryota
ANT
Insects
Animal Sociality
Social Systems
General Agricultural and Biological Sciences
Division of labour
Arthropoda
Vasopressins
QH301-705.5
media_common.quotation_subject
Zoology
Biology
General Biochemistry
Genetics and Molecular Biology
03 medical and health sciences
Animals
Humans
Social Behavior
Behavior
General Immunology and Microbiology
Ants
fungi
Organisms
Biology and Life Sciences
Social environment
Pupae
Social cue
Hymenoptera
Invertebrates
HEK293 Cells
030104 developmental biology
Entomology
030217 neurology & neurosurgery
Developmental Biology
Zdroj: PLoS Biology
PLoS Biology, Vol 19, Iss 6, p e3001305 (2021)
ISSN: 1545-7885
Popis: Oxytocin/vasopressin-related neuropeptides are highly conserved and play major roles in regulating social behavior across vertebrates. However, whether their insect orthologue, inotocin, regulates the behavior of social groups remains unknown. Here, we show that in the clonal raider ant Ooceraea biroi, individuals that perform tasks outside the nest have higher levels of inotocin in their brains than individuals of the same age that remain inside the nest. We also show that older ants, which spend more time outside the nest, have higher inotocin levels than younger ants. Inotocin thus correlates with the propensity to perform tasks outside the nest. Additionally, increasing inotocin pharmacologically increases the tendency of ants to leave the nest. However, this effect is contingent on age and social context. Pharmacologically treated older ants have a higher propensity to leave the nest only in the presence of larvae, whereas younger ants seem to do so only in the presence of pupae. Our results suggest that inotocin signaling plays an important role in modulating behaviors that correlate with age, such as social foraging, possibly by modulating behavioral response thresholds to specific social cues. Inotocin signaling thereby likely contributes to behavioral individuality and division of labor in ant societies.
The neuropeptides oxytocin and vasopressin modulate social behavior in vertebrates, but their function in invertebrates is not well understood. Using brain staining and pharmacological manipulations, this study shows that a related neuropeptide, inotocin, affects how ants respond to larvae.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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