Physiological and neural mechanisms underlying the division of labor in termite

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  • ISHIKAWA Yuki
    Group of Neural Circuit, Division of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University

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  • シロアリの社会性とそれを支える生理／神経機構
  • シロアリ ノ シャカイセイ ト ソレ オ ササエル セイリ/シンケイ キコウ

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<p>Termites show a highly complex society, which is supported by the cooperation of the colony members with different morphology and behavior. These individuals, termed as castes, possess the identical genomic background with the other colony members, but specialized to particular tasks in their colony. For task specialization, the neural mechanism is required to differentiate in caste-specific manner. However, what mechanisms are underlying the task specialization, and how the complex sociality in termites was evolved from the ancestral solitary cockroach has been unrevealed.</p><p></p><p>In this review, I firstly provide an overview of the termite sociality, including the terminology, which is specific to social biology. Secondly, I introduce the developmental pathway and the regulatory mechanisms in which the colony members differentiate into castes in adapting to fluctuating environmental condition. Thirdly, recent advances in understanding the neural mechanisms underlying the termite task specialization are described. Finally, I will discuss how the termite sociality was evolved from the solitary ancestors with the modification of the physiological and neural mechanisms.</p>

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