Behavioral genetics: a gene for supersociality.
In the fire ant, the number of queens per colony is determined by the workers' Gp-9 genotype. This gene has been found to encode an odorant binding protein, which probably influences workers' abilities to recognize queens and regulate their numbers. Remarkably, the same gene seems to control social organization in three other closely related species.
Keller
Laurent
L
Institute of Ecology, BB, University of Lausanne, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Parker
Joel D
JD
D000818:Animals; D001000:Ants / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D017344:Genes, Insect; D005824:Genetics, Behavioral; D008297:Male; D009154:Mutation; D012919:Social Behavior; D013045:Species Specificity