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mpir: Ant's sex life (23. Nov 2006 13:45)

Hi,

I'm not sure I understand the biology of ant's sex life. So if anybody understands this topic better than I do please shine some light on this matter.

So far this is what I understand: queens are diploid, fertilized eggs which are also diploid become females, unfertalized eggs which are haploid become males. Queen's gametes are haploid, what about male gametes? Are they haploid or half haploid? How much of the male genome is present in the next generation? Half or only quarter? And if only a quarter of genes are from a male and half of the genome is from a queen, where from is "the missing" quarter? How can gene diversity be maintained if a male is not "realy a male" but only half of the queen's genes?

Another question: why are all workers in hymenopteran societies female?

Thanks for answers.

JimmyVe: (23. Nov 2006 13:50)

Hi mpir,

Good question. ;) only i can not answer it. maybe someone with more experience on this topic can.

Greets

Mika: (29. Apr 2007 11:25)

For a good answer: consult a scientific book on ant biology.

Short version: Queen and male gametes are haploïd. For the male this means there is no cross-over, so all of his sperm carries the same genome (his own).

In the egg cells (of the queen) there is cross-over and genetic recombination, and this creates (normal sexual) diversity. The male's scenario is abberant.

In the hypothetical scenario where a queen mates with only one male, half of the genome the workers carry is the same (the male's part). The other half varies because of the genetic recombination on the queen's egg cells. So, workers are related to their sisters by 75%, to their brothers by 25%, and to their own offspring by 50%. (50% means 50% of their alleles is the same in both animals.) They are in the very peculiar situation that helping their mother rear more sisters is more profitable (considering gene copies) than raising offspring of their own. This is why they are workers and help in the nest, rather than starting a nest on their own.

Males are related to their sisters by 25%, and to their own offspring by 50%. For them, it is better to invest in offspring than in sisters or brothers. This is why they do not help in the nest.

mpir: (29. Apr 2007 16:30)

@Mika

I waited long to get the answer but it was worth the wait. :wink:

Thank you for the explanation.