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Caste Differentiation: Genetic and Epigenetic Factors

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Encyclopedia of Social Insects

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The process of caste differentiation is central to understanding insect sociality, because it is task specialization that enables division of labor within eusocial colonies. Selection presumably favors colonies that can adjust their division of labor in response to changing environmental demands, and for many taxa genetic and epigenetic factors are an important part of this equation. In this entry, we provide a framework for understanding genetic and epigenetic effects on caste. From mostly ant, bee, and termite examples discovered so far, we make clear that genotype-caste associations can evolve in different and sometimes complex ways and can involve additive or nonadditive genetic effects that, in turn, may arise directly from focal individuals or indirectly via their social partners. Epigenetic effects, by contrast, provide an interface between environmental experience and gene expression. For the most part, both genetic and epigenetic effects on caste appear to be highly...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biology Department, Western University, London, ON, Canada

    Graham J. Thompson & Anna M. Chernyshova

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  1. Graham J. Thompson
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  2. Anna M. Chernyshova
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Correspondence to Graham J. Thompson .

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  1. University of the West Indies, Department of Life Sciences University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago

    Christopher Starr

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Thompson, G.J., Chernyshova, A.M. (2020). Caste Differentiation: Genetic and Epigenetic Factors. In: Starr, C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Social Insects. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90306-4_178-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90306-4_178-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-90306-4

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