# gene: a single gene seems to confer reproductive status in ants (Ooceraea biroi).

<< a single gene is consistently up-regulated in queens. This gene seems to confer reproductive status through integration with increased nutrition. In a clonal ant, larval signals disrupt this gene up-regulation, destabilizing the division of reproductive labor. Increasing levels of the associated peptide override these larval signals and establish eusociality. >>

AA << findings suggest a simple model for the origin of ant eusociality via nutritionally determined reproductive asymmetries potentially amplified by larval signals. >>

Vikram Chandra, Ingrid Fetter-Pruneda, et al. Social regulation of insulin signaling and the evolution of eusociality in ants. Science.  Jul 27, 2018 Vol. 361, Issue 6400, pp. 398-402. doi: 10.1126/science.aar5723

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/361/6400/398