Epigenetic effects in social insects

Unlike some other social insects, the clonal raider ant (Cerapachys biroi) has no queen and no workers – all ants lay eggs and then go through a nurturing phase. This feature of the life cycle has provided the opportunity to research genetic changes that trigger these two alternating behavioural patterns in the ant's lifetime.

Epigenetic changes in the genome allow the expression of genes to be varied without a change in the actual DNA. In vertebrates, one of the important types of epigenetic change, methylation, takes place largely in promoter regions that initiate gene transcription. In insects, however, methylation occurs in other regions of a gene, inferring that this epigenetic change has a different role.

Further details: Epigenetic effects in social insects