Ants have become the largest family of social insects, with more than fifteen thousand species spread across the globe, and a new study suggests that part of their success was written into a part of their genome long dismissed as mere parasitic clutter. Jumping genes, the mobile stretches of DNA that copy and relocate themselves, appear to have surged in several ant lineages in the wake of the asteroid that ended the age of dinosaurs, just before those lineages flourished. In tracing this link across 163 species, researchers invite us to consider that disruption and genetic restlessness may so
Jumping Genes May Have Helped Ants Rise After the Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid
DNA once dismissed as a genetic parasite may have helped ants flourish
Mark
So what's the basic claim here?
Mimi
That bursts of jumping gene activity in several ant lineages, around 66 million years ago, came shortly before those lineages split into thousands of species.
Mark
And jumping genes are what, exactly?
Mimi
DNA segments that move around a genome and copy themselves. They used to be written off as genomic parasites, a bit like viruses.
Luke
Before we get excited: this is correlation in timing and in numbers, right? Lineages with more jumping genes have more species. That's a pattern, not a demonstration.
Mimi
Fair. The study shows the pattern across 163 species. Schrader describes transposable elements as the genomic mechanism linking the asteroid's upheaval to ant diversification, which is his team's interpretation.
Mark
Where do the odorant receptors come in?
Mimi
Jumping genes were connected to the expansion of gene families for chemical signaling, including odorant receptors. Ants use smell to navigate, recognize colony members and coordinate.
Luke
Note the wording, though. Jumping genes "may have contributed" to that expansion. That's hedged, and it should be.
Mark
Is it just ants?
Mimi
Earlier studies found similar activity linked to new species in primates and bats, so it may be a broader pattern.
Luke
May be. Whether it holds generally is still untested.
Der Puls
- A parasitic-looking piece of DNA is now being read as a possible engine of change, and that reversal unsettles long-held assumptions about the genome.
- An asteroid strike around 66 million years ago set off bursts of jumping gene activity in several ant lineages, a disruption that landed in the deep history of the family.
- Researchers at the University of Münster compared 163 ant species across twelve surviving subfamilies to reconstruct a hundred million years of genomic change.
- Lineages carrying more jumping genes now hold more species, and the odorant receptor genes that let ants read chemical signals appear to have expanded alongside them.
- The findings are still a hypothesis awaiting confirmation, with scientists now poised to test whether mobile DNA drove diversification in primates, bats, and other groups.
Ants have become the largest family of social insects, with more than fifteen thousand species spread across the globe, and a new study suggests that part of their success was written into a part of their genome long dismissed as mere parasitic clutter. Jumping genes, the mobile stretches of DNA that copy and relocate themselves, appear to have surged in several ant lineages in the wake of the asteroid that ended the age of dinosaurs, just before those lineages flourished. In tracing this link across 163 species, researchers invite us to consider that disruption and genetic restlessness may sometimes be the quiet seeds of new diversity. The story reminds us that what once looked like an intruder in the genome may have been an unacknowledged architect of life's branching.
Ants now form the largest family of social insects, with more than 15,000 species spread across the world. A study in Science Advances suggests that part of their story is written in a feature of their DNA once dismissed as a parasite: transposable elements, or jumping genes. The work was led by Dr. Lukas Schrader at the University of Münster, whose team compared the genomes of 163 ant species and traced how these mobile sequences changed in number and activity over the past 100 million years.
For years, scientists saw jumping genes mainly as genomic freeloaders, multiplying without offering their hosts any clear benefit. Now the picture is shifting. The researchers found that ant lineages with the most jumping genes also tend to have the most species today. Their timing is striking too: several major lineages showed surges of jumping gene activity in the early Paleogene, around 66 million years ago, in the aftermath of the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs, shortly before those groups expanded into thousands of species.
The team also linked these bursts to the growth of gene families for chemical signaling, especially odorant receptors. Ants depend on smell to navigate, recognize nestmates, and coordinate their colonies, so expanding these sensory tools may have sharpened the very communication that holds complex societies together. Similar patterns have been noted in primates and bats, and the authors now call for genomic studies across more lineages to determine whether mobile DNA drives diversification widely or whether ants are one remarkable case among several.
Ants now make up the largest family of social insects, with more than 15,000 species spread across the world. A study published in Science Advances argues that part of the reason lies in a feature of their DNA once dismissed as a parasite: transposable elements, better known as jumping genes.
The international project was led by Dr. Lukas Schrader of the Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity at the University of Münster in Germany. His team compared the genomes of 163 ant species, covering twelve of the 16 ant subfamilies that survive today. From those comparisons they reconstructed how jumping genes changed in number and activity across the past 100 million years.
Jumping genes are stretches of DNA that can move to new positions within a genome and make extra copies of themselves. For years scientists saw them mainly as genomic parasites. Like viruses, they can multiply without giving their host any obvious benefit, and in some cases their activity contributes to disease. More recently, researchers have begun to see that the same movement can open doors for evolutionary change.
The ant data point in that direction. Lineages carrying the greatest numbers of jumping genes also tended to be the ones with the most species today. The timing was equally telling. Several major ant lineages showed separate surges of jumping gene activity in the early Paleogene, around 66 million years ago, the period that followed the asteroid impact that killed the dinosaurs. Those surges came shortly before the groups expanded into the thousands of species now alive.
Schrader links the two events. The asteroid, he explains, had dramatic consequences for the environment, and the team believes it has now found the genomic mechanism connecting those upheavals to the rapid diversification of ants that followed: transposable elements.
The researchers also found a connection between jumping genes and the growth of gene families involved in chemical signaling. Particularly important were genes for odorant receptors, which let ants detect and respond to smells. Those receptors underpin much of ant social life. Ants rely on chemical cues to navigate their surroundings, recognize members of their own colony, and coordinate with one another. The findings suggest jumping genes may have helped expand these sensory systems, potentially sharpening the ability to read the chemical messages that hold complex ant societies together.
Ants are not alone in showing this kind of pattern. Earlier studies have tied periods of heightened jumping gene activity to the emergence of new species in other groups, including primates and bats.
The work leaves a clear next step: genomic studies in other lineages that test whether mobile DNA drives diversification more broadly, or whether ants are one striking case among several.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
The asteroid impact had dramatic consequences for the environment; the team has found the genomic mechanism connecting these upheavals to rapid ant diversification: transposable elements.— Dr. Lukas Schrader, University of Münster
Möchten Sie die ganze Geschichte?
Das Original lesen bei Science Daily ↗
Science & Space