Abstract
Background: In many organisms increased reproductive effort is associated with a shortened life span. This trade-off is reflected in conserved molecular pathways that link nutrient-sensing with fecundity and longevity. Social insect queens apparently defy the fecundity / longevity trade-off as they are both, extremely long-lived and highly fecund. Here, we have examined the effects of a protein-enriched diet on these life-history traits and on tissue-specific gene expression in a termite species of low social complexity. Results: On a colony level, we did not observe reduced lifespan and increased fecundity, effects typically seen in solitary model organisms, after protein enrichment. Instead, on the individual level mortality was reduced in queens that consumed more of the protein-enriched diet – and partially also in workers – while fecundity seemed unaffected. Our transcriptome analyses supported our life-history results. Consistent with life span extension, the expression of IIS (insulin/insulin-like growth factor 1 signalling) components was reduced in fat bodies after protein enrichment. Interestingly, however, genes involved in reproductive physiology (e.g., vitellogenin) were largely unaffected in fat body and head transcriptomes. Conclusion: These results suggest that IIS is decoupled from downstream fecundity-associated pathways, which can contribute to the remoulding of the fecundity/longevity trade-off in termites as compared to solitary insects.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 244 |
| Journal | BMC Genomics |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Dec 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL. This research was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) by a grant to JK (DFG; KO1895/19–2) within the Research Unit FOR2281.
Funding Information:
We are grateful to three anonymous reviewers and the handling editor for helpful comments on our manuscript. This research was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) by a grant to JK (DFG; KO1895/19-2) within the Research Unit FOR2281. We thank Florentine Schaub for assistance in the field and wet lab, Karen Meusemann for help with bioinformatics analyses and Daniela Schnaiter for carefully looking after the termite colonies. We acknowledge the support by the Baden-Württemberg High Performance Computing facilites. Charles Darwin University (Australia), and especially S. Garnett and the Horticulture and Aquaculture team, provided logistic support to collect C. secundus. The Parks and Wildlife Commission, Northern Territory, the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts gave permission to collect (permit number 64452) and export (permit PWS2019-AU-000897) the termites. The study was conducted in accordance with the Nagoya protocol.
Funding Information:
We are grateful to three anonymous reviewers and the handling editor for helpful comments on our manuscript. This research was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) by a grant to JK (DFG; KO1895/19-2) within the Research Unit FOR2281. We thank Florentine Schaub for assistance in the field and wet lab, Karen Meusemann for help with bioinformatics analyses and Daniela Schnaiter for carefully looking after the termite colonies. We acknowledge the support by the Baden-Württemberg High Performance Computing facilites. Charles Darwin University (Australia), and especially S. Garnett and the Horticulture and Aquaculture team, provided logistic support to collect C. secundus. The Parks and Wildlife Commission, Northern Territory, the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts gave permission to collect (permit number 64452) and export (permit PWS2019-AU-000897) the termites. The study was conducted in accordance with the Nagoya protocol.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, The Author(s).