Ant communication: Secrets of the antennae
Ant communication: Secrets of the antennae Date: August 28, 2015 Source: Kobe University Summary: Scientists have identified chemosensory proteins (CSPs) that play important roles in communications between worker ants. CSPs may represent a starting point for elucidation of the molecular mechanisms involved in the sophisticated system of communication that supports ants' complex societies, and the evolution of these mechanisms. Ants, being social insects, form highly organized societies on the basis of very close communication between individuals, mediated by pheromones and other chemical substances. Information about the genomes of several ant species has been obtained to date, and genes linked to chemosensitivity in ants have been shown to be diverse. However, almost no elucidation of the modes of expression and functioning of these genes in chemosensory organs has previously been achieved. This research group previously showed that one type of CSP1, CjapCSP1, binds w...