Within-Colony Kin Discrimination in a Social Insect

从达尔文时代起，群居昆虫就构成了进化生物学的一大难题。他们的工人阶级是自然界中生殖利他主义的主要例子，然而自然选择的过程在很大程度上被认为会导致生殖自私。进化怎么会导致放弃繁殖呢？对群居昆虫（或许在某种程度上对人类也是如此）来说，答案是亲缘关系。群居昆虫的群体是同族的群体。工人不繁殖，但他们帮助亲属繁殖，这就允许了工作行为基因的选择。然而，我们仍然不明白个人的利益和整个群体的利益之间是如何平衡的。同样的进化亲属理论解释了合作是如何进化的，也预测了群体内部可能存在冲突。如果个体能够区分并帮助其群体中最亲近的亲属，这一点尤其正确，但尚不清楚它们是否会这样做。Drs。Strassmann和Queller将使用DNA技术来回答这个问题。他们将使用一类被称为微卫星基因的基因。由于这些基因数量众多且变化多端，因此它们可以用来对亲缘关系进行必要的精细估计。因此,Drs。Strassmann和Queller将确定社会性昆虫群体在多大程度上真正是完全合作的实体，或者它们是否在某种程度上是一群神秘的有争议的个体，每个个体都追求自己的目标。这将大大增加对自然界利他主义的程度和本质的理解。该项目将有助于围绕微卫星基因的新技术，这在许多领域都很重要，包括各种进化研究、保护遗传学、法医学和农业和医疗需要的基因定位研究。除了为培养博士后和研究生做出贡献外，Strassmann和Queller鼓励本科生、高中生和教师参与进来，把他们学到的知识带回课堂。

From the time of Darwin on, the social insects have posed one of the great puzzles of evolutionary biology. Their worker castes are the prime example of reproductive altruism in the natural world, yet the process of natural selection is expected, for the most part, to lead to reproductive selfishness. How can evolution lead to giving up reproduction? The answer for social insects (and perhaps also to some extent for humans) turns out to be kinship. Colonies of social insects are groups of kin. Workers don't reproduce, but they help relatives to reproduce and this permits selection for genes for working behavior. However, we still don't understand what kind of balance is struck between the interests of the individual and the interests of the group as a whole. The same evolutionary kinship theory that explains how cooperation can evolve also predicts that there may be conflict within colonies. This is particularly true if individuals can distinguish and aid their closest relatives in their colony, but it is not known whether they do this. Drs. Strassmann and Queller will use DNA technology to answer this question. They will use a class of genes called microsatellite genes. Because these genes are both numerous and highly variable, they can be used to make the necessary fine-level estimates of relatedness. Thus, Drs. Strassmann and Queller will determine to what extent social insect colonies really are completely cooperative entities, or if they are in part cryptically contentious assemblies of individuals, each pursuing its own aims. This will greatly increase understanding of the extent and nature of altruism in the natural world. This project will contribute to the new technology surrounding microsatellite genes, which is important in many areas, including all kinds of evolutionary studies, conservation genetics, forensics, and gene-mapping studies for agricultural and medical needs. Besides contributing to the training of postdoctoral and graduate students, Drs. Strassmann and Queller encourage participation of undergraduates, high school students, and teachers who take the knowledge they gain back to the classroom.