Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views Forum
  • Published:

Genetics

A social rearrangement

Some worker fire ants will tolerate multiple queens in their colony, but others only one. It turns out that this behaviour is governed by a gene cluster on an unusual pair of chromosomes. Two scientists describe what these findings mean to the fields of social evolution, genetics and beyond. See Letter p.664

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Fire ants and queen.

ALEX WILD/VISUALS UNLIMITED, INC./SPL

Notes

  1. *This article and the paper under discussion1 were published online on 16 January 2013.

References

  1. Wang, J. et al. Nature 493, 664–668 (2013).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Ascunce, M. S. et al. Science 331, 1066–1068 (2011).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Krieger, M. J. B. & Ross, K. G. Science 295, 328–332 (2002).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Gotzek, D. & Ross, K. G. Q. Rev. Biol. 82, 201–226 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Keller, L. & Ross, K. G. Nature 394, 573–575 (1998).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Burt, A. & Trivers, R. Genes in Conflict: The Biology of Selfish Genetic Elements (Harvard Univ. Press, 2006).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  7. Charlesworth, D., Charlesworth, B. & Marais, G. Heredity 95, 118–128 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Lahn, B. T. & Page, D. C. Science 286, 964–967 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Andrew F. G. Bourke or Judith E. Mank.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bourke, A., Mank, J. A social rearrangement. Nature 493, 612–613 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11854

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11854

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing