Choosing when to be sexual: clonal and sexual reproduction in a population of honey bees

选择何时有性行为：蜜蜂群体中的克隆和有性生殖

• 批准号: DP0985189
• 负责人: Prof Benjamin Oldroyd
• 金额: $ 17.3万
• 依托单位: The University of Sydney
• 依托单位国家: 澳大利亚
• 项目类别: Discovery Projects
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 澳大利亚
• 起止时间: 2009-03-27 至 2012-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://dataportal.arc.gov.au/RGS/Web/Grants/DP0985189
• 关键词: Choosing; when; sexual; clonal; reproduction

Sex is costly. There is the cost of finding a mate and the genome of offspring must be shared with the mating partner. Despite these costs, sex is common in animals, so the benefits of sex must be substantial. Benefits may include the prevention of inbreeding and generating variable offspring. Exploring the trade off between sex and cloning requires a model system where individuals can choose to reproduce sexually or asexually. This project will explore a population of honey bees where a genetic mutation allows queens to clone themselves or reproduce sexually. We will reveal the unusual genetic mechanisms behind this ability and show how they are used by queens and workers to increase their reproductive success.

性是昂贵的。寻找配偶是有代价的，后代的基因组必须与交配伙伴共享。 尽管有这些代价，性行为在动物中是普遍的，所以性行为的好处肯定是巨大的。好处可能包括防止近亲繁殖和产生可变的后代。探索性和克隆之间的权衡需要一个模型系统，其中个人可以选择有性或无性繁殖。 这个项目将探索一个蜜蜂种群，其中基因突变允许蜂王克隆自己或进行有性繁殖。 我们将揭示这种能力背后的不寻常的遗传机制，并展示它们如何被蚁后和工蚁用来提高繁殖成功率。