Orco-dependent survival of odorant receptor neurons in ants.

Olfaction is essential for complex social behavior in insects. To discriminate complex social cues, ants evolved an expanded number of () genes. Mutations in the obligate odorant co-receptor gene lead to the loss of ~80% of the antennal lobe glomeruli in the jumping ant .

Insulin signaling in the long-lived reproductive caste of ants.

In most organisms, reproduction is correlated with shorter life span. However, the reproductive queen in eusocial insects exhibits a much longer life span than that of workers. In ants, when the queen dies, workers can undergo an adult caste switch to reproductive pseudo-queens (gamergates), exhibiting a five-times prolonged life span.

Early behavioral and molecular events leading to caste switching in the ant .

Ant societies show a division of labor in which a queen is in charge of reproduction while nonreproductive workers maintain the colony. In , workers retain reproductive ability, inhibited by the queen pheromones. Following the queen loss, the colony undergoes social unrest with an antennal dueling tournament.

An Engineered orco Mutation Produces Aberrant Social Behavior and Defective Neural Development in Ants.

Ants exhibit cooperative behaviors and advanced forms of sociality that depend on pheromone-mediated communication. Odorant receptor neurons (ORNs) express specific odorant receptors (ORs) encoded by a dramatically expanded gene family in ants. In most eusocial insects, only the queen can transmit genetic information, restricting genetic studies.