RARE SEXUAL REPRODUCTION EVENTS IN THE CLONAL REPRODUCTION SYSTEM OF INTRODUCED POPULATIONS OF THE LITTLE FIRE ANT

A unique reproductive system has previously been described in Wasmannia auropunctata, a widespread invasive ant species, where males are produced clonally, female queens are parthenogens, and female workers are produced sexually. However, these findings were mostly based on samples originating from...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Evolution 2006-08, Vol.60 (8), p.1646-1657
Main Authors: Foucaud, Julien, Jourdan, Hervé, Le Breton, Julien, Loiseau, Anne, Konghouleux, Djoël, Estoup, Arnaud
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alleles
Animal nesting
Animal populations
Animal reproduction
Animals
Ants
Ants - physiology
Biological Evolution
Caste determination
Demography
Evolution
Female
Formicidae
Genetics
Genotype
Genotypes
Insect genetics
Insect reproduction
Insects
invasion
Male
Male animals
Microsatellite Repeats
New Caledonia
parthenogenesis
Queen insects
Reproduction - physiology
reproduction system
Sexual reproduction
Social insects
Wasmannia auropunctata
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Summary:A unique reproductive system has previously been described in Wasmannia auropunctata, a widespread invasive ant species, where males are produced clonally, female queens are parthenogens, and female workers are produced sexually. However, these findings were mostly based on samples originating from only a limited part of the native range of the species in South America. We used microsatellite markers to uncover the reproductive modes displayed by a large number of nests collected in various invasive W. auropunctata populations introduced 40 years ago into New Caledonia, where the species now forms a single 450-km-long supercolony. Although the main reproduction system in New Caledonia remained clonality for both male and female reproductives, we found evidence of rare sexual reproduction events that led to the production of both new queen and male clonal lineages. All clonal lineages observed in New Caledonia potentially derived from sexual reproduction, recombination, and mutation events from a single female and a single male genotype. Hence, the male and female gene pools are not strictly separated in New Caledonia and the two sexes do not follow independent evolutionary trajectories. Our results also suggest genetic determination for both parthenogenesis and caste. We discuss the evolutionary implications of the emergence of sex in the clonal reproduction system of introduced populations of W. auropunctata.
ISSN:0014-3820
1558-5646
DOI:10.1554/06-099.1