Data from: Histone acetyltransferases and external demands influence task switching in Temnothorax ants

In social hymenopterans, workers specialize on different tasks. Whether a
worker nurses the brood or forages is influenced by the responsiveness for
task-related cues which in turn is determined by gene expression. Task
choice is dynamic and changes throughout a worker’s life, e.g. with age or
in response to increased demands for certain tasks. Behavioral switches
require the ability to adjust gene expression but the mechanisms
regulating such transcriptional adaptations remain elusive. We
investigated the role of histone acetylation in task specialization and
behavioral flexibility in Temnothorax longispinosus ants. By inhibiting
p300/CBP histone acetyltransferases (HAT) and manipulating colony
composition, we found that HAT inhibition impairs the ability of older
workers to switch to brood care. Yet, HAT inhibition increased the ability
of young workers to accelerate their behavioral development and switch to
foraging. Our data suggest that HAT in combination with social signals
indicating task demands play an important role in modulating behavior.
Elevated HAT activity may contribute to keeping young brood carers from
leaving the nest, where they would be exposed to high mortality. These
findings shed light on the epigenetic processes underlying behavioral
flexibility in animals and provide insight into the mechanisms of task
specialization in social insects.