Male yellow crazy ants are biological chimeras. In this respect informs University of Mainz.
Anoplolepis gracilipes, or the yellow mad ant, is a dangerous invasive species that is destroying Australia’s ecosystems and islands in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. He was called insane for his tendency to run randomly in circles when panicked, whereas in social life on the contrary, he behaves “reasonably” and difficult – many anthills can organize themselves into a single super-colony.
“The results of previous genetic analyzes of the yellow crazy ant showed that males of this species have two copies of each chromosome in males. This was quite unexpected as males usually develop from unfertilized eggs and therefore each chromosome should have only one maternal copy,” said Hugo Darras, author of the study. says.
Now scientists have discovered that the maternal and paternal genomes reside in different cells of the same male organism. This is an example of chimerism, which biologists call organisms made up of genetically distinct cells, each type often having certain characteristics.
The authors concluded that males develop from fertilized eggs in which the two parent gametes do not fuse. Instead, the maternal and paternal nuclei divide separately within the same egg, meaning that adult males have DNA sequences from both parents, but in different body cells. When the gametes unite during fertilization, either the uterus or the working individual develops from the egg, depending on the genetic information in the sperm.
The scientists aren’t clear on what mechanisms affect the fusion of parent gametes, and they hope to find out in future studies.
ancient biologists approvedthat the moths’ “tails” act as decoys for bats.