Theory of genomic imprinting conflict in social insects

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Genomic imprinting refers to the differential expression of genes inherited from the mother and father (matrigenes and patrigenes). The kinship theory of genomic imprinting treats parent-specific gene expression as products of within...

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Main Author: Queller David C
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2003-07-01
Series:BMC Evolutionary Biology
Online Access:http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/3/15
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spelling doaj-ed4c057b9a6246e1a84b4776be5ba79b2021-09-02T09:00:19ZengBMCBMC Evolutionary Biology1471-21482003-07-01311510.1186/1471-2148-3-15Theory of genomic imprinting conflict in social insectsQueller David C<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Genomic imprinting refers to the differential expression of genes inherited from the mother and father (matrigenes and patrigenes). The kinship theory of genomic imprinting treats parent-specific gene expression as products of within-genome conflict. Specifically, matrigenes and patrigenes will be in conflict over treatment of relatives to which they are differently related. Haplodiploid females have many such relatives, and social insects have many contexts in which they affect relatives, so haplodiploid social insects are prime candidates for tests of the kinship theory of imprinting.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Matrigenic and patrigenic relatednesses are derived for individuals affected in a variety of contexts, including queen competition, sex ratio, worker laying of male eggs and policing, colony fission, and adoption of new queens. Numerous predictions emerge for what contexts should elicit imprinting, which individuals and tissues will show it, and the direction of imprinting effects. The predictions often vary for different genetic structures (varying queen and mate number) and often contrast with predictions for diploids.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Because the contexts differ from the normal imprinting case, and because nothing is currently known about imprinting in social insects, these predictions can serve as a strong <it>a priori </it>test of the kinship theory of imprinting. If the predictions are correct, then social insects, which have long served as exemplars of cooperation between individuals, will also be shown to be extraordinary examples of competition within individual genomes.</p> http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/3/15
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Queller David C
spellingShingle Queller David C
Theory of genomic imprinting conflict in social insects
BMC Evolutionary Biology
author_facet Queller David C
author_sort Queller David C
title Theory of genomic imprinting conflict in social insects
title_short Theory of genomic imprinting conflict in social insects
title_full Theory of genomic imprinting conflict in social insects
title_fullStr Theory of genomic imprinting conflict in social insects
title_full_unstemmed Theory of genomic imprinting conflict in social insects
title_sort theory of genomic imprinting conflict in social insects
publisher BMC
series BMC Evolutionary Biology
issn 1471-2148
publishDate 2003-07-01
description <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Genomic imprinting refers to the differential expression of genes inherited from the mother and father (matrigenes and patrigenes). The kinship theory of genomic imprinting treats parent-specific gene expression as products of within-genome conflict. Specifically, matrigenes and patrigenes will be in conflict over treatment of relatives to which they are differently related. Haplodiploid females have many such relatives, and social insects have many contexts in which they affect relatives, so haplodiploid social insects are prime candidates for tests of the kinship theory of imprinting.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Matrigenic and patrigenic relatednesses are derived for individuals affected in a variety of contexts, including queen competition, sex ratio, worker laying of male eggs and policing, colony fission, and adoption of new queens. Numerous predictions emerge for what contexts should elicit imprinting, which individuals and tissues will show it, and the direction of imprinting effects. The predictions often vary for different genetic structures (varying queen and mate number) and often contrast with predictions for diploids.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Because the contexts differ from the normal imprinting case, and because nothing is currently known about imprinting in social insects, these predictions can serve as a strong <it>a priori </it>test of the kinship theory of imprinting. If the predictions are correct, then social insects, which have long served as exemplars of cooperation between individuals, will also be shown to be extraordinary examples of competition within individual genomes.</p>
url http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/3/15
work_keys_str_mv AT quellerdavidc theoryofgenomicimprintingconflictinsocialinsects
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