In eusocial insect colonies, non‐reproductive workers often perform different tasks. Tasks of an individual worker are shifted depending on various factors, e.g., age and colony demography. Although a vitellogenin (Vg) gene play regulatory roles in both reproductive and non‐reproductive division of labours in a honeybee, it has been shown that the insect Vg underwent multiple gene duplications and sub‐functionalisation, especially in apical ant lineages. The regulatory roles of duplicated Vgs were suggested to change evolutionarily among ants, whereas such roles in phylogenetically basal ants remain unclear. Here, we examined the expression patterns of conventional Vg (CVg), Vg‐like A, Vg‐like B and Vg‐like C, as well as Vg receptor, during the task shift in an age‐dependent manner and under experimental manipulation of colony demography in a primitive ant Diacamma sp. Expressions of CVg and Vg‐like A in a brain were associated with a nursing task. It is suggested that associations of brain expressions of these Vgs with worker tasks were acquired in the basal ant lineage, and that such Vg functions could have sub‐functionalised in the derived ant lineage.

中文翻译：

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工人大脑中常规卵黄蛋白原和类卵黄蛋白原 A 的表达与小红蚁的护理任务有关

在真社会性昆虫群落中，非生殖工作者通常执行不同的任务。个体工人的任务根据各种因素转移，例如年龄和群体人口。尽管卵黄蛋白原( Vg ) 基因在蜜蜂的生殖和非生殖分工中发挥调节作用，但已经表明昆虫Vg经历了多个基因复制和亚功能化，尤其是在顶端蚂蚁谱系中。建议重复Vgs的调节作用在蚂蚁之间发生进化变化，而在系统发育基础蚂蚁中的这种作用仍不清楚。在这里，我们检查了常规Vg ( CVg )的表达模式，Vg-like A、Vg-like B和Vg-like C以及Vg 受体，在以年龄依赖性方式进行任务转移期间以及在原始蚂蚁Diacamma sp.的群体人口学实验操作下。表达CVG和Vg的，如A在大脑中有一个护理任务相关联。这表明这些Vgs的大脑表达与工人任务的关联是在基础蚂蚁谱系中获得的，并且这种Vg功能可能在派生的蚂蚁谱系中进行了亚功能化。