Obligate chimerism in male yellow crazy ants | Zendy

Hugo Darras | Zendy; Christine Berney | Zendy; Sasitorn Hasin | Zendy; Jochen Drescher | Zendy; Heike Feldhaar | Zendy; Laurent Keller | Zendy

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Obligate chimerism in male yellow crazy ants

Author(s) -

Hugo Darras,

Christine Berney,

Sasitorn Hasin,

Jochen Drescher,

Heike Feldhaar,

Laurent Keller

Publication year - 2023

Publication title -

science

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 12.556

H-Index - 1186

eISSN - 1095-9203

pISSN - 0036-8075

DOI - 10.1126/science.adf0419

Subject(s) - biology , obligate , multicellular organism , sperm , ploidy , somatic cell , reproduction , offspring , zoology , oocyte , brood , meiosis , genetics , evolutionary biology , ecology , embryo , gene , pregnancy

Multicellular organisms typically develop from a single fertilized egg and therefore consist of clonal cells. We report an extraordinary reproductive system in the yellow crazy ant. Males are chimeras of haploid cells from two divergent lineages: R and W. R cells are overrepresented in the males' somatic tissues, whereas W cells are overrepresented in their sperm. Chimerism occurs when parental nuclei bypass syngamy and divide separately within the same egg. When syngamy takes place, the diploid offspring either develops into a queen when the oocyte is fertilized by an R sperm or into a worker when fertilized by a W sperm. This study reveals a mode of reproduction that may be associated with a conflict between lineages to preferentially enter the germ line.

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