Effects of juvenile hormone in fertility and fertility-signaling in workers of the common wasp Vespula vulgaris.
In the highly eusocial wasp, Vespula vulgaris, queens produce honest signals to alert their subordinate workers of their fertility status, and therefore they are reproductively suppressed and help in the colony. The honesty of the queen signals is likely maintained due to hormonal regulation, which...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2021-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0250720&type=printable |
| _version_ | 1826554590791729152 |
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| author | Cintia Akemi Oi Helena Mendes Ferreira Rafael Carvalho da Silva Andreas Bienstman Fabio Santos do Nascimento Tom Wenseleers |
| author_facet | Cintia Akemi Oi Helena Mendes Ferreira Rafael Carvalho da Silva Andreas Bienstman Fabio Santos do Nascimento Tom Wenseleers |
| author_sort | Cintia Akemi Oi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In the highly eusocial wasp, Vespula vulgaris, queens produce honest signals to alert their subordinate workers of their fertility status, and therefore they are reproductively suppressed and help in the colony. The honesty of the queen signals is likely maintained due to hormonal regulation, which affects fertility and fertility cue expression. Here, we tested if hormonal pleiotropy could support the hypothesis that juvenile hormone controls fertility and fertility signaling in workers. In addition, we aimed to check oocyte size as a proxy of fertility. To do that, we treated V. vulgaris workers with synthetic versions of juvenile hormone (JH) analogue and a JH inhibitor, methoprene and precocene, respectively. We dissected the treated females to check ovary activation and analyzed their chemical profile. Our results showed that juvenile hormone has an influence on the abundance of fertility linked compounds produced by workers, and it also showed to increase oocyte size in workers. Our results corroborate the hypothesis that juvenile hormone controls fertility and fertility signaling in workers, whereby workers are unable to reproduce without alerting other colony members of their fertility. This provides supports the hypothesis that hormonal pleiotropy contributes to keeping the queen fertility signals honest. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T20:07:37Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f9512ae0935a4ed2971aa9a9319a852a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-03-14T07:43:20Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-f9512ae0935a4ed2971aa9a9319a852a2025-03-03T05:34:27ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032021-01-01165e025072010.1371/journal.pone.0250720Effects of juvenile hormone in fertility and fertility-signaling in workers of the common wasp Vespula vulgaris.Cintia Akemi OiHelena Mendes FerreiraRafael Carvalho da SilvaAndreas BienstmanFabio Santos do NascimentoTom WenseleersIn the highly eusocial wasp, Vespula vulgaris, queens produce honest signals to alert their subordinate workers of their fertility status, and therefore they are reproductively suppressed and help in the colony. The honesty of the queen signals is likely maintained due to hormonal regulation, which affects fertility and fertility cue expression. Here, we tested if hormonal pleiotropy could support the hypothesis that juvenile hormone controls fertility and fertility signaling in workers. In addition, we aimed to check oocyte size as a proxy of fertility. To do that, we treated V. vulgaris workers with synthetic versions of juvenile hormone (JH) analogue and a JH inhibitor, methoprene and precocene, respectively. We dissected the treated females to check ovary activation and analyzed their chemical profile. Our results showed that juvenile hormone has an influence on the abundance of fertility linked compounds produced by workers, and it also showed to increase oocyte size in workers. Our results corroborate the hypothesis that juvenile hormone controls fertility and fertility signaling in workers, whereby workers are unable to reproduce without alerting other colony members of their fertility. This provides supports the hypothesis that hormonal pleiotropy contributes to keeping the queen fertility signals honest.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0250720&type=printable |
| spellingShingle | Cintia Akemi Oi Helena Mendes Ferreira Rafael Carvalho da Silva Andreas Bienstman Fabio Santos do Nascimento Tom Wenseleers Effects of juvenile hormone in fertility and fertility-signaling in workers of the common wasp Vespula vulgaris. PLoS ONE |
| title | Effects of juvenile hormone in fertility and fertility-signaling in workers of the common wasp Vespula vulgaris. |
| title_full | Effects of juvenile hormone in fertility and fertility-signaling in workers of the common wasp Vespula vulgaris. |
| title_fullStr | Effects of juvenile hormone in fertility and fertility-signaling in workers of the common wasp Vespula vulgaris. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effects of juvenile hormone in fertility and fertility-signaling in workers of the common wasp Vespula vulgaris. |
| title_short | Effects of juvenile hormone in fertility and fertility-signaling in workers of the common wasp Vespula vulgaris. |
| title_sort | effects of juvenile hormone in fertility and fertility signaling in workers of the common wasp vespula vulgaris |
| url | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0250720&type=printable |
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