生物多样性 ›› 2021, Vol. 29 ›› Issue (4): 507-516.  DOI: 10.17520/biods.2020224

所属专题: 昆虫多样性与生态功能

• 综述 • 上一篇    下一篇

社会性昆虫级型和行为分化机制研究进展

张慧, 刘倩, 黄晓磊()   

  1. 闽台作物有害生物生态防控国家重点实验室, 福建农林大学植物保护学院, 福州 350002
  • 收稿日期:2020-05-29 接受日期:2020-09-01 出版日期:2021-04-20 发布日期:2021-04-20
  • 通讯作者: 黄晓磊
  • 基金资助:
    国家自然科学基金(31970446)

Mechanisms regulating caste and behavior differentiation in social insects

Hui Zhang, Qian Liu, Xiaolei Huang()   

  1. State Key Laboratory of Ecological Pest Control for Fujian and Taiwan Crops, College of Plant Protection, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002
  • Received:2020-05-29 Accepted:2020-09-01 Online:2021-04-20 Published:2021-04-20
  • Contact: Xiaolei Huang
  • About author:* E-mail: huangxl@fafu.edu.cn

摘要:

社会性的出现是生物演化过程中的重要革新, 理解社会性的演化和调控机制具有重要的理论和实际意义。社会性昆虫的个体间有着明显的级型分化和劳动分工, 这有利于它们适应复杂的环境变化。理解社会性昆虫如何产生不同的形态、行为和生活史特性, 一直是进化和发育生物学的重要目标。随着测序技术的不断更新及生物信息学的快速发展, 已经有众多关于社会性昆虫级型和行为分化机制的研究报道。本文通过整理社会性昆虫研究的已有成果, 从环境因素、生理调控和分子机制等方面对社会性昆虫级型和行为分化机制相关研究进展进行了综述, 并对未来的研究方向做出了展望。根据现有证据, 社会性昆虫所生活的生物环境(食物营养、信息素、表皮碳氢化合物)和非生物环境(温度、气候等)均能直接或间接影响社会性昆虫级型和行为的分化; 保幼激素、蜕皮激素、类胰岛素及生物胺等内分泌激素和神经激素对社会性昆虫的级型和行为分化也有重要的调控作用; 此外, 遗传因素、新基因等DNA序列或基因组结构上的变化以及表观遗传修饰、基因的差异表达等基因调控机制均能不同程度地影响社会性昆虫的行为分化。本文建议加强昆虫纲其他社会性类群如半翅目蚜虫和缨翅目蓟马等的社会性行为及其演化机制的研究, 以加深对社会性昆虫起源及其行为演化的理解和认识。

关键词: 社会性昆虫, 行为分化, 环境因素, 生理调控, 分子机制

Abstract

Background & Aims: Eusociality is a critical evolutionary innovation. Understanding the origin of eusociality and related regulating mechanisms has theoretical and practical significance to several research fields. A clear hierarchy and division of labor exists among individuals of social insects. The behavioral differentiation and extensive cooperation between castes are beneficial for their adaptation to complicated environmental changes. Understanding how social insects can produce individuals with differences in morphology, behavior and life-history characteristics is an important goal of much evolutionary and developmental biology research. With the rapid development of sequencing technology and bioinformatics, there have been many studies on the mechanisms underlying social insect behavioral differentiation. Here, we present recent advances on the environmental factors and physiological and molecular mechanisms regulating caste and behavioral differentiation in social insects by summarizing the current results of social insect studies, and propose the future research directions.

Progresses: Both biotic factors (e.g., nutrients, pheromones, cuticular hydrocarbons) and abiotic factors (e.g., temperature, climate) can directly and indirectly affect the differentiation of insect social behavior and castes. Endocrine hormones, such as juvenile hormone (JH), ecdysteroids (20E), insulin-like peptides (ILPs), and neurohormonal bioamines, also play important roles. In addition, evolutionary changes in gene sequences or genome structure, including heritable differences and novel genes, as well as gene regulatory mechanisms, such as DNA methylation and differential expression of genes, can also affect the caste and behavior differentiation of social insects to different degrees.

Prospects: We suggest strengthening the study of social behavior and regulating mechanisms in other social insect lineages, such as aphids and thrips, which are relatively understudied and which will improve the understanding of the origins and evolution of eusociality and social behaviors in insects.

Key words: social insect, behavioral differentiation, environmental factor, physiological regulation, molecular mechanism