An evolutionarily conserved pathway mediated by neuroparsin-A regulates reproductive plasticity in ants

作者：Xiafang Zhang, Nianxia Xie, Guo Ding, Dongdong Ning, Wei Dai, Zijun Xiong, Wenjiang Zhong, Dashuang Zuo, Jie Zhao, Pei Zhang, Chengyuan Liu, Qiye Li, Hao Ran, Weiwei Liu, Guojie Zhang · 发表于：PLoS Biology · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1371/journal.pbio.3002763 · 被引用次数：11 · 研究领域：Neurobiology and Insect Physiology Research、Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior、Animal Behavior and Reproduction

Phenotypic plasticity displayed by an animal in response to different environmental conditions is supposedly crucial for its survival and reproduction. The female adults of some ant lineages display phenotypic plasticity related to reproductive role. In pharaoh ant queens, insemination induces substantial physiological/behavioral changes and implicates remarkable gene regulatory network (GRN) shift in the brain. Here, we report a neuropeptide neuroparsin A (NPA) showing a conserved expression pattern associated with reproductive activity across ant species. Knock-down of NPA in unmated queen enhances ovary activity, whereas injection of NPA peptide in fertilized queen suppresses ovary activity. We found that NPA mainly affected the downstream gene JHBP in the ovary, which is positively regulated by NPA and suppression of which induces elevated ovary activity, and shadow which is negatively regulated by NPA. Furthermore, we show that NPA was also employed into the brain-ovary axis in regulating the worker reproductive changes in other distantly related species, such as Harpegnathos venator ants.