Soldier-specific modification of the mandibular motor neurons in termites.

Social insects exhibit a variety of caste-specific behavioral tendencies that constitute the basis of division of labor within the colony. In termites, the soldier caste display distinctive defense behaviors, such as aggressively attacking enemies with well-developed mandibles, while the other caste...

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Autores principales:	Yuki Ishikawa, Hitoshi Aonuma, Toru Miura
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2008
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/2646f678687a403c8013a1ede22eaf2e
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:2646f678687a403c8013a1ede22eaf2e2021-11-25T06:11:40ZSoldier-specific modification of the mandibular motor neurons in termites.1932-620310.1371/journal.pone.0002617https://doaj.org/article/2646f678687a403c8013a1ede22eaf2e2008-07-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/18612458/?tool=EBIhttps://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203Social insects exhibit a variety of caste-specific behavioral tendencies that constitute the basis of division of labor within the colony. In termites, the soldier caste display distinctive defense behaviors, such as aggressively attacking enemies with well-developed mandibles, while the other castes retreat into the colony without exhibiting any aggressive response. It is thus likely that some form of soldier-specific neuronal modification exists in termites. In this study, the authors compared the brain (cerebral ganglion) and the suboesophageal ganglion (SOG) of soldiers and pseudergates (workers) in the damp-wood termite, Hodotermopsis sjostedti. The size of the SOG was significantly larger in soldiers than in pseudergates, but no difference in brain size was apparent between castes. Furthermore, mandibular nerves were thicker in soldiers than in pseudergates. Retrograde staining revealed that the somata sizes of the mandibular motor neurons (MdMNs) in soldiers were more than twice as large as those of pseudergates. The enlargement of MdMNs was also observed in individuals treated with a juvenile hormone analogue (JHA), indicating that MdMNs become enlarged in response to juvenile hormone (JH) action during soldier differentiation. This enlargement is likely to have two functions: a behavioral function in which soldier termites will be able to defend more effectively through relatively faster and stronger mandibular movements, and a developmental function that associates with the development of soldier-specific mandibular muscle morphogenesis in termite head. The soldier-specific enlargement of mandibular motor neurons was observed in all examined species in five termite families that have different mechanisms of defense, suggesting that such neuronal modification was already present in the common ancestor of termites and is significant for soldier function.Yuki IshikawaHitoshi AonumaToru MiuraPublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleMedicineRScienceQENPLoS ONE, Vol 3, Iss 7, p e2617 (2008)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Yuki Ishikawa Hitoshi Aonuma Toru Miura Soldier-specific modification of the mandibular motor neurons in termites.
description	Social insects exhibit a variety of caste-specific behavioral tendencies that constitute the basis of division of labor within the colony. In termites, the soldier caste display distinctive defense behaviors, such as aggressively attacking enemies with well-developed mandibles, while the other castes retreat into the colony without exhibiting any aggressive response. It is thus likely that some form of soldier-specific neuronal modification exists in termites. In this study, the authors compared the brain (cerebral ganglion) and the suboesophageal ganglion (SOG) of soldiers and pseudergates (workers) in the damp-wood termite, Hodotermopsis sjostedti. The size of the SOG was significantly larger in soldiers than in pseudergates, but no difference in brain size was apparent between castes. Furthermore, mandibular nerves were thicker in soldiers than in pseudergates. Retrograde staining revealed that the somata sizes of the mandibular motor neurons (MdMNs) in soldiers were more than twice as large as those of pseudergates. The enlargement of MdMNs was also observed in individuals treated with a juvenile hormone analogue (JHA), indicating that MdMNs become enlarged in response to juvenile hormone (JH) action during soldier differentiation. This enlargement is likely to have two functions: a behavioral function in which soldier termites will be able to defend more effectively through relatively faster and stronger mandibular movements, and a developmental function that associates with the development of soldier-specific mandibular muscle morphogenesis in termite head. The soldier-specific enlargement of mandibular motor neurons was observed in all examined species in five termite families that have different mechanisms of defense, suggesting that such neuronal modification was already present in the common ancestor of termites and is significant for soldier function.
format	article
author	Yuki Ishikawa Hitoshi Aonuma Toru Miura
author_facet	Yuki Ishikawa Hitoshi Aonuma Toru Miura
author_sort	Yuki Ishikawa
title	Soldier-specific modification of the mandibular motor neurons in termites.
title_short	Soldier-specific modification of the mandibular motor neurons in termites.
title_full	Soldier-specific modification of the mandibular motor neurons in termites.
title_fullStr	Soldier-specific modification of the mandibular motor neurons in termites.
title_full_unstemmed	Soldier-specific modification of the mandibular motor neurons in termites.
title_sort	soldier-specific modification of the mandibular motor neurons in termites.
publisher	Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate	2008
url	https://doaj.org/article/2646f678687a403c8013a1ede22eaf2e
work_keys_str_mv	AT yukiishikawa soldierspecificmodificationofthemandibularmotorneuronsintermites AT hitoshiaonuma soldierspecificmodificationofthemandibularmotorneuronsintermites AT torumiura soldierspecificmodificationofthemandibularmotorneuronsintermites
_version_	1718414031049457664

Soldier-specific modification of the mandibular motor neurons in termites.

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