Bioinfo Club Septiembre 2022: Investigating the molecular footprints of insect sociality

Subsociality, in which parents care for brood, has evolved in at least 13 insect orders. However, transitions from subsociality to the most advanced level, obligate eusociality, are extremely rare, having occurred only in Hymenotpera, termites and one species of beetle. I am interested in understanding the genomic mechanisms linked to the multiple origins of subsociality, as well as those associated with the rare advancements to higher forms of sociality. With comparative genomic methods we have inferred several molecular mechanisms linked to the evolution of termite sociality which mirror those that occurred in the independent origins of eusociality in Hymenoptera. However, many details differ due to highly divergent ancestral conditions. By extending our genomic resources to incorporate a broader range of social traits across varied independent origins, we expect to detect fundamental molecular signatures related to insect sociality.