category
bioRxiv
date
Feb 14, 2026
slug
status
Published
summary
通过比较25种蚂蚁基因组发现三个保守基因组区域(GR1-GR3)是毒液基因进化热点,揭示蚂蚁毒液基因通过单拷贝保守(GR2)、大规模基因重复(GR1)和重复招募保守平台(GR3)的多模式进化机制,推翻了蜂毒肽单一家族起源假说,并发现蚂蚁中存在与蜂类同源的蜂毒肽基因,将该结构起源时间推至早期膜翅目昆虫。
tags
蛋白质进化
type
Post

📄 原文题目

How Ant Genomes Repeatedly Reinvent Venom

🔗 原文链接

💡 AI 核心解读

通过比较25种蚂蚁基因组发现三个保守基因组区域(GR1-GR3)是毒液基因进化热点,揭示蚂蚁毒液基因通过单拷贝保守(GR2)、大规模基因重复(GR1)和重复招募保守平台(GR3)的多模式进化机制,推翻了蜂毒肽单一家族起源假说,并发现蚂蚁中存在与蜂类同源的蜂毒肽基因,将该结构起源时间推至早期膜翅目昆虫。

📝 英文原版摘要

Background: Venoms from ant (Formicidae) are chemically extraordinarily diverse, yet their genomic architecture and evolutionary dynamics remain opaque. The "aculeatoxin hypothesis" assumes that most venom peptides in stinging insects (aculeate) evolutionarily derive from a single gene family, the aculeatoxins. The recent refutation of this hypothesis for bees raises fundamental questions about venom evolution in ants, which contribute most aculeatoxins. Methods: In order to trace venom peptide evolution, we performed synteny-aware comparative genomics across 25 ant species spanning major subfamilies. We analyzed phylogeny through sequences, structures, and embeddings from protein Language Model (pLMs). Results: We identified three conserved genomic regions (GR1-GR3) as evolutionary hotspots for ant venom genes, each exhibiting distinct evolutionary dynamics. Most remarkably, we discovered genuine melittin orthologs in ants at the conserved bee syntenic position (GR2), pushing the origin of this scaffold back to early aculeates, with a possible origin deeper in Hymenoptera. Gene copy numbers vary dramatically (0-17 genes per region), with predatory species showing expansions and formicine ants (subfamily Formicinae, which rely on formic acid spraying) showing reductions. Twenty-two distinct toxin clades emerge, with region-specific distributions suggesting repeated recruitment to conserved platforms. Significance: Ants evolutionarily succeed by combining single-copy conservation (bee-like at GR2), massive gene duplication (snake-like at GR1), and repeated lineage-specific recruitment to conserved genomic platforms (GR3). This multi-modal evolution on stable genomic scaffolds, evidenced here, reconciles previously conflicting models of venom evolution and reveals how gen
omic architecture constrains, yet repeatedly enables, molecular innovation. Our findings highlight a general principle of genome evolution: complex adaptive traits can arise not from a single origin or mechanism, but through recurrent reuse of permissive genomic loci shaped by ecology. Such principles are likely relevant not only to other venomous animals, but more broadly to the evolution of complex multi-genic traits.
智力残疾风险基因RFX4通过抑制神经元分化调控皮层神经发生VIPerturb-seq全基因组单细胞扰动筛选平台
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