Bio 48 Evolutionary Biology
Performance Tasks # 1: Journal No. 1
Name: Guinita, Brent Louisse F.
Title of Article: Transcriptomic analyses of the termite, Cryptotermes secundus, reveal a
gene network underlying a long lifespan and high fecundity
Date of Publication: 22 March 2021
Fill out the form by answering the questions given (answer the question in 80-100 words each).
Background
What was the context for this research?
Results
What highlights emerged?
Date: March 26, 2021 Rating: ______
The context of this research is to learn
more about the long lifespan and high
fecundity of the termite Cryptotermes
secundus. The main focus of the study
was the identification of a single module
of co-expressed genes that characterized
queens in the termite species
Cryptotermes secundus. Since queens in
insect colonies may create hundreds of
thousands of offspring and live for
decades, they outlive their nestmates by
orders of magnitude, allowing them to
exceed fecundities and lifespans
previously unimaginable. Gene
expression differences were analyzed
between queens and workers in the wood-
dwelling termite Cryptotermes secundus.
The findings shed light on the mystery of
insects defying life-history trade-offs,
which are the cornerstone of social life.
Several functional modules related to JH
that reflect different aspects of queenness
were discovered, but none of them were
considered significant. Several
substantially affected IIS and TOR genes,
on the other hand, were contained in
multiple modules. At the molecular level,
the study also identified a single module
of co-expressed genes that encompasses
all of the characteristics of a social insect
queen: the QCM. The striking links to
social communication that was revealed
in this study also offer new avenues to
understand the remodeling of the
Bio 48 Evolutionary Biology
Significance
Why does this research matter?
fecundity/longevity trade-off in social
insects. This research is the first to show
that the proposed mechanistic correlation
between fecundity and CHC biosynthesis
pathways exists.
This research is significant because
transcriptome data from a variety of cell
types can help researchers learn more
about what differentiates a cell type, how
it works normally, and how variations in
normal gene activity can represent or lead
to a specific trait. The significance of the
study also centers in providing reference
and comprehensive background
regarding the identification of the gene
network that characterizes reproducing
queens since despite considerable
progress in social Hymenoptera, such
study was not yet conducted. The
researchers were able to gain insight into
the biological processes that characterize
a module by performing GO enrichment
analysis for all genes in each WGCNA
module. It was also possible to gain
insight into the molecular pathways that
characterize a module by performing
KEGG enrichment analysis for all genes in
each WGCNA module.