Crazy ants’ strange genomes are a biological first
1–10 of 18 posts
Re: Crazy ants’ strange genomes are a biological first
#2TLDR:
Most male ants in most ant species are not diploid. Yellow crazy ants are an invasive species wreaking havoc in Southeast Asia and Oceania and their diploid males are apparently part of why. It allows a single queen ant to start a new colony.
Re: Crazy ants’ strange genomes are a biological first
#3TLDR: Most male ants in most ant species are not diploid. Yellow crazy ants are an invasive species wreaking havoc in Southeast Asia and Oceania and their diploid males are apparently part of why. It allows a single queen ant to start a new colony.
To add on- not just diploid, but chimeric. AFAIK, this is the first known example of chimerism as a fundamental aspect of a species rather than an occasional mutation.
Re: Crazy ants’ strange genomes are a biological first
#4TLDR: Most male ants in most ant species are not diploid. Yellow crazy ants are an invasive species wreaking havoc in Southeast Asia and Oceania and their diploid males are apparently part of why. It allows a single queen ant to start a new colony.
I think the tldr is that this animal is made out of some cells with one genome from one parent, and other cells with a completely other genome from the other parent, rather than a single new genome the same in all cells, which until now was unheard of.
Imagine if every other cell in your body was a transplant from someone else.
And the additional remarkable item, is that this is not just a random fluke that can happen to an individual, and not even merely normal for this species, but appears to actually be an integral neccessary part of the species life cycle. IE they use it and they wouldn't live without it.
Re: Crazy ants’ strange genomes are a biological first
#5TLDR: Most male ants in most ant species are not diploid. Yellow crazy ants are an invasive species wreaking havoc in Southeast Asia and Oceania and their diploid males are apparently part of why. It allows a single queen ant to start a new colony.
To add on- not just diploid, but chimeric. AFAIK, this is the first known example of chimerism as a fundamental aspect of a species rather than an occasional mutation.
Thank you. I was wondering if I had left out anything important.
Re: Crazy ants’ strange genomes are a biological first
#6TLDR: Most male ants in most ant species are not diploid. Yellow crazy ants are an invasive species wreaking havoc in Southeast Asia and Oceania and their diploid males are apparently part of why. It allows a single queen ant to start a new colony.
I think the tldr is that this animal is made out of some cells with one genome from one parent, and other cells with a completely other genome from the other parent, rather than a single new genome the same in all cells, which until now was unheard of. Imagine if every other cell in your body was a transplant from someone else. And the additional remarkable item, is that this is not just a random fluke that can happe…
While true, as a mother and environmental studies major, that wasn't the most important detail to me.
A. Human women become chimeras when they carry a fetus.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8155153
B. It's the reason for the headline -- their weird chimeric males -- but it seems more important to me that it facilitates invasive behavior by allowing a single ant to start a new colony.
YMMV, of course, and probably will.
Re: Crazy ants’ strange genomes are a biological first
#7Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think the tldr is that this animal is made out of some cells with one genome from one parent, and other cells with a completely other genome from the other parent, rather than a single new genome the same in all cells, which until now was unheard of. Imagine if every other cell in your body was a transplant from someone else. And the additional remarkable item, is that this is not just a random fluke that can happe…
While true, as a mother and environmental studies major, that wasn't the most important detail to me. A. Human women become chimeras when they carry a fetus. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8155153 B. It's the reason for the headline -- their weird chimeric males -- but it seems more important to me that it facilitates invasive behavior by allowing a single ant to start a new colony. YMMV, of course, and probabl…
Don't lots of species store sperm? I see nothing too remarkable about a single individual being able to start a colony unless no species do store sperm.
Re: Crazy ants’ strange genomes are a biological first
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
While true, as a mother and environmental studies major, that wasn't the most important detail to me. A. Human women become chimeras when they carry a fetus. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8155153 B. It's the reason for the headline -- their weird chimeric males -- but it seems more important to me that it facilitates invasive behavior by allowing a single ant to start a new colony. YMMV, of course, and probabl…
Don't lots of species store sperm? I see nothing too remarkable about a single individual being able to start a colony unless no species do store sperm.
[deleted]
Re: Crazy ants’ strange genomes are a biological first
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
While true, as a mother and environmental studies major, that wasn't the most important detail to me. A. Human women become chimeras when they carry a fetus. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8155153 B. It's the reason for the headline -- their weird chimeric males -- but it seems more important to me that it facilitates invasive behavior by allowing a single ant to start a new colony. YMMV, of course, and probabl…
Don't lots of species store sperm? I see nothing too remarkable about a single individual being able to start a colony unless no species do store sperm.
I have asked around. It appears you are correct.
Re: Crazy ants’ strange genomes are a biological first
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
While true, as a mother and environmental studies major, that wasn't the most important detail to me. A. Human women become chimeras when they carry a fetus. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8155153 B. It's the reason for the headline -- their weird chimeric males -- but it seems more important to me that it facilitates invasive behavior by allowing a single ant to start a new colony. YMMV, of course, and probabl…
Don't lots of species store sperm? I see nothing too remarkable about a single individual being able to start a colony unless no species do store sperm.
There are other known ways of one individual being able to start a new population:
- The simplest and most obvious way to do this is to be a clonal organism.
- But you can go more complicated than that. You can have a female parthenogenetically give birth to males and then mate with those males. Aphids do this. (Actually, some cursory research suggests that aphids are more likely to give parthenogenetic birth to a batch of sons and daughters who then mate with each other?)