Data from: Maternal and nourishment factors interact to influence offspring developmental trajectories in social wasps

The social and nutritional environments during early development have the potential to affect offspring traits, but the mechanisms and molecular underpinnings of these effects remain elusive. We used Polistes fuscatus paper wasps to dissect how maternally controlled factors (vibrational signals and nourishment) interact to induce different caste developmental trajectories in female offspring, leading to worker or reproductive (‘gyne’) traits. We established a set of caste phenotype biomarkers in P. fuscatus females, finding that gyne-destined individuals had high expression of three caste-related genes hypothesized to have roles in diapause and mitochondrial metabolism. We then experimentally manipulated maternal vibrational signals (via artificial ‘antennal drumming’) and nourishment levels (via restricted foraging). We found that these caste-related biomarker genes were responsive to drumming, nourishment level, or their interaction. Our results provide a striking example of the potent influence of maternal and nutritional effects in influencing transcriptional activity and developmental outcomes in offspring.

早期发育阶段的社会与营养环境，可对子代性状产生潜在影响，但此类效应的作用机制与分子基础仍有待阐明。我们以褐造纸胡蜂（Polistes fuscatus paper wasps）为实验体系，解析母本调控因子（振动信号与营养供给）如何相互作用，诱导雌性子代产生不同的品级发育轨迹，进而形成工蜂或生殖型雌蜂（‘gyne’）性状。我们在褐造纸胡蜂雌性个体中建立了一套品级表型生物标志物体系，研究发现定向发育为生殖型雌蜂的个体，其3个与品级相关的基因表达量显著升高——这些基因此前被推测参与滞育与线粒体代谢过程。随后我们通过人工‘触角敲击’操作对母本的振动信号进行操控，并通过限制觅食行为调控营养供给水平。实验结果显示，这些与品级相关的生物标志物基因，可对敲击处理、营养水平，或是二者的交互作用产生响应。本研究结果为母本效应与营养效应如何调控子代转录活性及发育结局提供了极具说服力的例证。