Project Details
Projekt
Differential regulation of genes, isoforms and networks during ageing in social insects
Applicant
Professor Dr. Erich Bornberg-Bauer
Subject Area
Evolution, Anthropology
Bioinformatics and Theoretical Biology
Bioinformatics and Theoretical Biology
Term
from 2015 to 2022
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 261675780
In this project we investigate the molecular basis of how the fecundity/longevity trade-off was reversed within three groups of insects with independent origins of eusociality. So far, we have concentrated on genomic analyses, supported by expression data, to compare termites, ants and bees with non-social insect outgroups.In a first study (in revision) we prepared all data sets and pipelines for further steps and reported key events which underlie the differentiation of and communication between castes in termites and compared these signals to Hymenoptera. Amongst others, the signals we found included the expansion of protein families involved in communication and changes in epigenetic marks which were specific for termites compared to non-social outgroups such as cockroaches or locusts. In further studies (manuscripts in preparation) we determined the key biological functions related to genes that were differentially expressed in relation to fertility and age, as well as further signals of evolutionary adaptation in genes known to be related to ageing.For the continuation of this project we propose to advance to more complex studies, such as analysing complete pathways and co-expression networks, investigating the role of alternative splicing and of epigenetic marks. Specifically, co-expression networks will help determine a wider set of transcripts which are associated to known ageing-related genes, to newly determined age-related genes and to clusters of co-expressed genes which show either a convergent, a parallel or a different expression pattern between the social insect groups and outgroups. Underlying data will be taken from the current analyses and supplemented with new data, which will be generated and analysed in close cooperation with four other groups within the RU. For the same set of data we will compare alternative splicing signals and their possible relationship to ageing and fertility, in particular again when comparing workers and queens of different age. Finally, we will compare epigenetic marks using both computational analyses of the genomes and transcriptomes and methylation data obtained using a cost-efficient novel sequencing strategy which provides a good approximation of age-dependent epigenetic differences between castes and species.The findings from all analyses will be combined to understand how, in the context of age, fertility and sociality, differential gene expression and alternative splicing are regulated within co-expression networks by epigenetic markers. These results will allow us to uncover how the reversal of the fecundity/longevity trade-off and the extreme longevity in reproductive castes evolved convergently in three independent lineages.
DFG Programme
Research Units
