Communications Biology (Feb 2021)
Sociality sculpts similar patterns of molecular evolution in two independently evolved lineages of eusocial bees
Abstract
Shell et al. compare the molecular evolution of bee genomes across species with varying social behaviours. Their findings indicate that eusocial lineages tend to have more gene family expansion than weakly social lineages. Transcriptomic data suggests that social phenotype is a consistent driver of macroevolutionary genomic change.