DNA methylation in insect social evolution

该项目将研究DNA甲基化与蜜蜂、蚂蚁和黄蜂表现出的高级社会性之间的进化关系。该项目将绘制整个群居昆虫的DNA甲基化图谱，并测试其是否与群居昆虫共同进化。它还将决定一种重要的社交线索--女王信息素--如何影响工作者的甲基组。最后，它将把数量遗传和甲基组方法应用于野生昆虫，揭示表观遗传和表型特征的选择和遗传模式。通过结合基因组和进化方法，该项目将推进正在进行的关于甲基化对社会性和极端表型可塑性的重要性的辩论。这将有助于我们对DNA甲基化和社会生物学的理解实现巨大飞跃，并标志着数量遗传学首次应用于野生昆虫。

This project will investigate the evolutionary relationship between DNA methylation and the advanced sociality displayed by bees, ants and wasps. The project will map DNA methylation across the social insects and test whether it has coevolved with sociality. It will also determine how a vital social cue, the queen pheromone, influences the worker methylome. Finally, it will apply quantitative genetic and methylomic methods to wild insects, revealing patterns of selection and inheritance in epigenetic and phenotypic traits. By combining genomic and evolutionary methods, the project will advance the ongoing debate about the importance of methylation to sociality and extreme phenotypic plasticity. It will contribute to a quantum leap in our understanding of DNA methylation and sociobiology and mark the first application of quantitative genetics to wild insects.