Darwin identified eusocial evolution, especially of complex insect societies, as a particular challenge to his theory of natural selection. A century later, Hamilton provided a framework for selection on inclusive fitness. Hamilton's rule is robust and fertile, having generated multiple subdisciplines over the past 45 years. His suggestion that eusociality can be explained via kin selection, however, remains contentious. I review the continuing debate on the role of kin selection in eusocial evolution and suggest some lines of research that should resolve that debate.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2009.0014 | DOI Listing |
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
January 2025
Theoretical Research in Evolutionary Life Sciences, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen 9747 AG, The Netherlands.
Noncoding RNA Res
April 2025
Institute of Environmental and Agricultural Biology (X-BIO), Tyumen State University, 625003, Tyumen, Russia.
Eusociality, characterized by reproductive division of labor, cooperative brood care, and multi-generational cohabitation, represents a pinnacle of complex social evolution, most notably manifested within the Hymenoptera order including bees, ants, and wasps. The molecular underpinnings underlying these sophisticated social structures remain an enigma, with noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) emerging as crucial regulatory players. This article delves into the roles of ncRNAs in exerting epigenetic control during the development and maintenance of Hymenopteran eusociality.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Insect Physiol
December 2024
Department of Entomology, VA Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 24061-0319, United States.
The role of nitrogen during insect development and reproduction is key in the success of a species, and is of primary importance in wood feeding taxa. Based on comparison of xylophagous, one-piece termites to the termite sister group, subsocial wood-feeding cockroaches in the genus Cryptocercus, it has been proposed that the evolution of termite eusociality involved a fundamental shift in nitrogen allocation strategies. Cryptocercus exhibits a nitrogen storage economy, with individuals gradually increasing in size and cuticular density over a years-long developmental period.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMol Biol Evol
December 2024
Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA.
Microbial communities that maintain symbiotic relationships with animals evolve by adapting to the specific environmental niche provided by their host, yet understanding their patterns of speciation remains challenging. Whether bacterial speciation occurs primarily through allopatric or sympatric processes remains an open question. In addition, patterns of DNA transfers, which are pervasive in bacteria, are more constrained in a closed host-gut system.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGenome Biol Evol
December 2024
School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK.
In eusocial insects, the molecular basis of worker reproductivity, including how it changes with eusocial complexity, remains relatively poorly understood. To address this, we used mRNA-seq to isolate genes differentially expressed between ovary-active and ovary-inactive workers in the intermediately eusocial bumblebee Bombus terrestris. By comparisons with data from the advanced eusocial honeybee Apis mellifera, which shows reduced worker reproductivity, we characterized gene expression differences associated with change in worker reproductivity as a function of eusocial complexity.
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