Department of Entomology
  • About
    • At a Glance
    • Welcome
    • Code of Conduct
    • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion >
      • DEI Working Group
      • Resources
    • Departmental History
    • For Alumni
    • Support Entomology >
      • Steinhauer Scholarship Fund
    • Contact >
      • Directions
  • News
    • News
    • Seminar Blog
    • Seminar Schedule
    • Awards
  • People
    • Faculty
    • Post Docs
    • Students
    • Staff
    • Alumni
    • For PI/Faculty
    • Proposal Resources
  • Academics
    • Graduate >
      • Admissions
      • MS Degree Requirements
      • PhD Degree Requirements
      • Graduate Student Resources
      • Forms for Grad Students
      • Financial Assistance
      • Award & Funding Opportunities
      • Entomology Student Organization
    • Online Masters in Applied Entomology
    • Undergraduate >
      • Entomology Minor
      • Honors Program
  • Research
    • IPM & Biological Control of Agricultural, Urban & Forest Pests
    • Ecology, Conservation, Restoration, Climate Change >
      • Pollinator Science and Apiculture
    • Evolution, Systematics and Evo-Devo
    • Genetics & Genomics and Medical Entomology
  • Extension/Outreach
    • Educational Outreach
    • Insect Camp
    • Insect Drawings
    • Insect Identification
    • Pesticide Education and Assessment Program
    • Plant Diagnostic Laboratory (PDL)

[Seminar Blog] Caste-switching jumping ants: studies on the plasticity of reproduction and lifespan

5/3/2023

 
​By Megan Ma
​
Dr. Francisco Carmona-Aldana (he/him), a postdoctoral scholar at the New York University School of Medicine, recently presented his research on “Ants: studies on the plasticity of reproduction and lifespan” which focuses on how ants obtain tradeoffs between reproduction and longevity through caste-switching. In the collaborative projects led by Dr. Danny Reinberg and Dr. Claude Desplan, he and his team study ants of the species Harpegnathos saltator as an experimental model to understand how aging can be regulated. H. saltator ants are peculiar in that workers can become pseudo-queens and take reproductive control of their colonies when a queen is absent. A group of 4 to 6 ants will undergo antennal dueling, a behavioral interaction to determine who will become pseudo-queens, or “gamergates.” These gamergates will have active ovaries, lay eggs, and extend their lifespans to accommodate this reproductive caste-switching. They live for 3 years in comparison to their lifespan as a former worker (1 year) and the maximum lifespan found in queens (5 years). In addition to altering the duration of their lifespans, gamergates have the potential to revert back to their worker states (induced in laboratory conditions). They can return to their original, non-reproductive role to perform their worker duties and no longer produce eggs. 
Picture
Picture
To induce this reversion in the lab, gamergates are first put in social isolation, then re-introduced into a mature colony that contains their own, well-established gamergates. These revertants continue their lives as workers, but not without physical evidence of caste-switching. Dr. Carmona-Aldana and his peers found confirmation of caste switching in the revertant’s brain, fat body, and ovaries. The revertant ovaries return to an underdeveloped state (like workers). Although they show remnants of old egg production, the gene expression pattern in the brain and the fat body show no difference from that of workers. The Insulin gene homolog was found to be highly expressed during the transition from worker to gamergate, leading to one of the questions being: “What might the presence of Insulin be doing during caste switching?” Dr. Carmona-Aldana, along with fellow researchers Hua Yan and Comzit Opachaloemphan, decided to see what would happen if they injected workers with insulin. They found the addition of insulin is sufficient to activate reproduction. When they compared lifespan, they confirmed an increase in the gamergate compared to the worker. In gamergate to revertant transitions, they showed that the survival decreases to levels comparable to workers that did not undergo caste switching. Through RNAseq and ex vivo incubation of tissues, they showed that the Imp-L2 gene is highly expressed in the gamergate, and the protein inhibits the AKT signaling pathway downstream of Insulin activation. They propose this inhibition allows lifespan extension, while Insulin activity through the MAPK pathway allows active reproduction.

This pattern of increased lifespan and fecundity is what sets this system apart from what is typically observed in other insects¹. Dr. Carmona-Aldana and his lab will explore multiple avenues to identify why this pattern is unique to eusocial insects. The next steps of this research will be to investigate differential biases in plasticity, physiological memory of previous states, and molecular markers of plasticity. Findings from this unique system have implications for understanding the physiological processes that contribute to aging, which is of particular interest to the field of human medicine.
​
Following his research presentation, Dr. Carmona-Aldana spoke about his personal experience as a researcher and his path in this specific field of science. He shared that he was the first member of his family to obtain a graduate degree. He advised graduate students to above all else, be patient and that research can be technically difficult and often scary, but simultaneously, an exciting and challenging career choice.
 
To keep up with Dr. Carmona-Aldana’s research, please visit his LinkedIn page.
 
¹Yan, H.; Opachaloemphan, C.; Carmona-Aldana, F.; Mancini, G.; Mlejnek, J.; Descostes, N.; Reinberg, D. Insulin signaling in the long-lived reproductive caste of ants. Science 2022, 377, 1092–1099.
 
Megan Ma (they/them) is a first-year Ph.D. student in the Shultz and Wood lab studying the evolution and functional morphology of spider chelicerae.


Comments are closed.

    Categories

    All
    Awards
    Colloquium
    Faculty Spotlight
    Fall 2013 Colloquium
    Fall 2014 Colloquium
    Fall 2015 Colloquium
    Fall 2016 Colloquium
    Featured
    Innovation
    News
    Publications
    Science Projects
    SESYNC
    Spring 2014 Colloquium
    Spring 2015 Colloquium
    Spring 2016 Colloquium
    Talks
    Undergraduate

    Archives

    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013

    RSS Feed

Picture
Picture
Picture
Department of Entomology 
University of Maryland 
4112 Plant Sciences Building 
College Park, MD 20742-4454
USA

Telephone: 301.405.3911 
Fax: 301.314.9290
Picture
Web Accessibility
  • About
    • At a Glance
    • Welcome
    • Code of Conduct
    • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion >
      • DEI Working Group
      • Resources
    • Departmental History
    • For Alumni
    • Support Entomology >
      • Steinhauer Scholarship Fund
    • Contact >
      • Directions
  • News
    • News
    • Seminar Blog
    • Seminar Schedule
    • Awards
  • People
    • Faculty
    • Post Docs
    • Students
    • Staff
    • Alumni
    • For PI/Faculty
    • Proposal Resources
  • Academics
    • Graduate >
      • Admissions
      • MS Degree Requirements
      • PhD Degree Requirements
      • Graduate Student Resources
      • Forms for Grad Students
      • Financial Assistance
      • Award & Funding Opportunities
      • Entomology Student Organization
    • Online Masters in Applied Entomology
    • Undergraduate >
      • Entomology Minor
      • Honors Program
  • Research
    • IPM & Biological Control of Agricultural, Urban & Forest Pests
    • Ecology, Conservation, Restoration, Climate Change >
      • Pollinator Science and Apiculture
    • Evolution, Systematics and Evo-Devo
    • Genetics & Genomics and Medical Entomology
  • Extension/Outreach
    • Educational Outreach
    • Insect Camp
    • Insect Drawings
    • Insect Identification
    • Pesticide Education and Assessment Program
    • Plant Diagnostic Laboratory (PDL)