Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
SHENZHEN, June 18 (Xinhua) — Scientists from the Global Ant Genomics Alliance (GAGA) published a groundbreaking study in the international scientific journal Cell on Monday, revealing the genetic basis behind major adaptive changes in ants’ evolution and their social traits that evolved in parallel.
Despite their small size, ants demonstrate impressive organizational skills. They are able to build intricate nests without using “language” to communicate, and they have the most rigorous system of division of labor.
By analyzing whole-genome data from 163 ant species collected from around the world, the research team reconstructed the evolutionary tree of the ant family, covering 12 of the 16 extant subfamilies.
The study sheds light on the complex phylogenetic relationships between ant species and traces the common ancestor of modern ants back to the late Jurassic period – about 157 million years ago – shedding light on the origins of ant organizational structure during the age of dinosaurs.
Scientists have found that ant gene families associated with olfactory perception were significantly expanded in the common ancestor’s genome, suggesting that it already possessed key molecular mechanisms for social communication.
The study also found that different ant species exhibit different mechanisms that regulate which ants become queens and which become workers, reflecting their adaptive evolution through natural selection.
The study involved scientists from Zhejiang University, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Nanchang University and BGI Research in China, as well as scientists from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark and the University of Münster in Germany. -0-