Ants as Object of Gerontological Research


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Social insects with identical genotype that form castes with radically different lifespans are a promising model system for studying the mechanisms underlying longevity. The main direction of progressive evolution of social insects, in particular, ants, is the development of the social way of life inextricably linked with the increase in the colony size. Only in a large colony, it is possible to have a developed polyethism, create large food reserves, and actively regulate the nest micro–climate. The lifespan of ants hugely varies among genetically similar queens, workers (unproductive females), and males. The main advantage of studies on insects is the determinism of ontogenetic processes, with a single genome leading to completely different lifespans in different castes. This high degree of determinacy is precisely the reason why some researchers (incorrectly) call a colony of ants the “superorganism”, emphasizing the fact that during the development, depending on the community needs, ants can switch their ontogenetic programs, which influences their social roles, ability to learn (i.e., the brain [mushroom–like body] plasticity), and, respectively, the spectrum of tasks performed by a given individual. It has been shown that in many types of food behavior, older ants surpass young ones in both performing the tasks and transferring the experience. The balance between the need to reduce the “cost” of non–breeding individuals (short lifespan and small size of workers) and the benefit from experienced long–lived workers possessing useful skills (large size and “non–aging”) apparently determines the differences in the lifespan and aging rate of workers in different species of ants. A large spectrum of rigidly determined ontogenetic trajectories in different castes with identical genomes and the possibility of comparison between “evolutionarily advanced” and “primitive” subfamilies (e.g., Formicinae and Ponerinae) make ants an attractive object in the studies of both normal aging and effects of anti–aging drugs.

作者简介

G. Shilovsky

Belozersky Institute of Physico-Chemical Biology; Faculty of Biology; Institute for Information Transmission Problems

编辑信件的主要联系方式.
Email: gregory_sh@list.ru
俄罗斯联邦, Moscow, 119991; Moscow, 119234; Moscow, 127051

T. Putyatina

Faculty of Biology

Email: gregory_sh@list.ru
俄罗斯联邦, Moscow, 119234

V. Ashapkin

Belozersky Institute of Physico-Chemical Biology

Email: gregory_sh@list.ru
俄罗斯联邦, Moscow, 119991

A. Rozina

Belozersky Institute of Physico-Chemical Biology

Email: gregory_sh@list.ru
俄罗斯联邦, Moscow, 119991

V. Lyubetsky

Institute for Information Transmission Problems

Email: gregory_sh@list.ru
俄罗斯联邦, Moscow, 127051

E. Minina

Belozersky Institute of Physico-Chemical Biology

Email: gregory_sh@list.ru
俄罗斯联邦, Moscow, 119991

I. Bychkovskaia

Nikiforov Center of Emergency and Radiation Medicine of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Control

Email: gregory_sh@list.ru
俄罗斯联邦, St. Petersburg, 194044

A. Markov

Faculty of Biology

Email: gregory_sh@list.ru
俄罗斯联邦, Moscow, 119234

V. Skulachev

Belozersky Institute of Physico-Chemical Biology

Email: gregory_sh@list.ru
俄罗斯联邦, Moscow, 119991

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