The birth of the first genetically modified ant.

Original title: The birth of the first genetically modified ant Pictured Source: Network Each ant colony can work together, each ant d'a walk around, while working closely with other siblings to complete the assigned tasks.
, ant colonies are sometimes referred to as "super-individuals".
, researchers analyzed the world's first genetically modified ant and found that its social nature depended heavily on its sense of smell.
findings provide key clues to how insect social behavior evolved.
" is a breakthrough in experimental biology.
" said Bert Holdobler, a behavioral biologist at Arizona State University who was not involved in the study.
, no one had succeeded in producing genetically modified ants for research.
, social insects have different social hierarchies and division of labor, which is an important model for studying behavior and social evolution.
darwinian era, biologists were fascinated by the evolution of social behavior.
very different organisms, such as ants and humans, live in tightly knit groups.
Israeli researchers have observed that a group of ants work together to get a piece of "giant" food back to the "home" - the ants at the rear are "lifted" upward and the ants in front are "pulled" forward.
ants move food, the faster they go home, and it's the "new players" who join the team from time to time who are responsible for "calibrating" the direction.
every time new ants join the removal team, their route is adjusted, and the "old players" follow the "new team members" direction.
the entire ant team moved the food home in such constant calibration.
, bee studies provide clues as to how genes affect this socialization, but it is difficult to determine the genetic function of insects such as bees and ants.
partly because researchers don't have a good way to break the target gene -- although it's easy to do in mice, or to pinpoint the genes involved.
addition, it is particularly difficult for social insects to be genetically modified.
Laurent Keller, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, says that even if scientists can modify an individual's genes, "the eggs of ants are very sensitive and difficult to grow without working ants", making it difficult to obtain genetically modified ant eggs that can survive.
the life cycle of social insects is complex, making it difficult to obtain large numbers of genetically modified offspring within the right time range.
, Daniel Kronauer, an evolutionary biologist at Rockefeller University in New York City, turned his attention to a asexual reproductive ant, the asexual reproductive ant.
Asexual reproductive ants belong to Mammoth Yako, which prey on ants and attack the nests of other ants, and one life cycle of its colony consists of two stages: one stage of reproduction and the other stage of predation and conservation.
unlike other ant populations, this small group of armed ants does not have queens, and their offspring are all produced by all-rounder ants through asexual reproduction.
means that once researchers modify the genes of individual ants, they can quickly develop a genetically modified chain.
for the vast majority of ant populations, this is largely not the case.
Kronauer said it would take years to obtain a genetically modified line of ordinary ants because of possible problems with the treatment of eggs and larvae, but that the ants were asexually bred, "giving us a shortcut."
to modify the genes of asexual reproductive marching ants, Kronauer's Warring Trible and Leonora Olivos-Cisneros used CRISPR technology, which makes it easier for scientists to adapt genes.
, the researchers found that the genotypes of the same nest were very similar, and that they reproduced in a sexually asexual way called central fusion of self-fertilization.
scientists can transfer ant colonies to laboratories for breeding and control the size of each colony.
, the simultaneous alternating life cycles of asexual reproductive ant colonies allowed researchers to precisely control the age of the worker ants.
new study, Trible destroyed a gene called orco, which provides the necessary proteins to maintain odor-sensitive nerve cell function in ant's tentacles.
these cells, called odor receptors, are one of several sensory organs that can detect chromatin.
animals such as ants use the chemical to communicate.
ants may have more odor receivers than other animals, at least 350, compared with 46 fruit flies.
researchers suspect the receptors are linked to ants' complex social systems.
results, genetically modified ant behavior and brain anatomy showed that an increase in the number of odor-like subjects did play a role.
researchers report in bioRxiv that young adult ants tend to stay with their nest partners in the first month, while genetically modified ants walk around immediately.
, genetically modified ants are unable to find clues left behind by other ants, but solidarity and search for clues are important behaviors that ant populations can sustain.
even more surprising is the effect of genetic modification on the brain.
nerve endings of all types of odor receptors come into contact with renal clusine clusters.
team had knocked out the fruit fly's orca gene, but its kidney balls would not be affected.
for ants, the modified ants did not form kidney balls.
this is consistent with the results produced by knocking out similar genes in the brains of mice.
genealogist Gene Robinson, of the University of Illinois, said the results were "remarkable" and provided an opportunity to compare brain development between different species so that scientists could understand the brain evolution behind the complex behavior of social animals.
source: China Science Daily