Morphological and genomic shifts in mole-rat ‘queens’ increase fecundity but reduce skeletal integrity

eLife

Rachel A Johnston¹  Jenny Tung²  Leyao Shen³  Courtney M Karner⁴  Henry Kirveslahti⁵  Sayan Mukherjee⁶  Philippe Vullioud⁷  Jack Thorley⁷  Tim Clutton-Brock⁸ 

[1] Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, United States;Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, United States;Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, United States;Duke Population Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, United States;Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, Canada;Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Duke Orthopaedic Cellular, Developmental, and Genome Laboratories, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, United States;Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Duke Orthopaedic Cellular, Developmental, and Genome Laboratories, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, United States;Department of Cell Biology, Duke University, Durham, United States;Department of Statistical Science, Duke University, Durham, United States;Department of Statistical Science, Duke University, Durham, United States;Department of Computer Science, Duke University, Durham, United States;Department of Mathematics, Duke University, Durham, United States;Department of Bioinformatics & Biostatistics, Duke University, Durham, United States;Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom;Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom;Department of Zoology and Entomology, Mammal Research Institute, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa;

关键词: cooperative breeding;    eusociality;    gene regulation;    skeletal bone;    phenotypic plasticity;    mole-rat;    Other;   

DOI  :  10.7554/eLife.65760

来源: eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd

【 摘 要 】

In some mammals and many social insects, highly cooperative societies are characterized by reproductive division of labor, in which breeders and nonbreeders become behaviorally and morphologically distinct. While differences in behavior and growth between breeders and nonbreeders have been extensively described, little is known of their molecular underpinnings. Here, we investigate the consequences of breeding for skeletal morphology and gene regulation in highly cooperative Damaraland mole-rats. By experimentally assigning breeding ‘queen’ status versus nonbreeder status to age-matched littermates, we confirm that queens experience vertebral growth that likely confers advantages to fecundity. However, they also upregulate bone resorption pathways and show reductions in femoral mass, which predicts increased vulnerability to fracture. Together, our results show that, as in eusocial insects, reproductive division of labor in mole-rats leads to gene regulatory rewiring and extensive morphological plasticity. However, in mole-rats, concentrated reproduction is also accompanied by costs to bone strength.

【 授权许可】

CC BY