TY - JOUR

T1 - Behavioural individuality determines infection risk in clonal ant colonies

AU - Li, Zimai

AU - Bhat, Bhoomika

AU - Frank, Erik T

AU - Oliveira-Honorato, Thalita

AU - Azuma, Fumika

AU - Bachmann, Valérie

AU - Parker, Darren J

AU - Schmitt, Thomas

AU - Economo, Evan P

AU - Ulrich, Yuko

N1 - © 2023. Springer Nature Limited.

PY - 2023/8/26

Y1 - 2023/8/26

N2 - In social groups, infection risk is not distributed evenly across individuals. Individual behaviour is a key source of variation in infection risk, yet its effects are difficult to separate from other factors (e.g., age). Here, we combine epidemiological experiments with chemical, transcriptomic, and automated behavioural analyses in clonal ant colonies, where behavioural individuality emerges among identical workers. We find that: (1) Caenorhabditis-related nematodes parasitise ant heads and affect their survival and physiology, (2) differences in infection emerge from behavioural variation alone, and reflect spatially-organised division of labour, (3) infections affect colony social organisation by causing infected workers to stay in the nest. By disproportionately infecting some workers and shifting their spatial distribution, infections reduce division of labour and increase spatial overlap between hosts, which should facilitate parasite transmission. Thus, division of labour, a defining feature of societies, not only shapes infection risk and distribution but is also modulated by parasites.

AB - In social groups, infection risk is not distributed evenly across individuals. Individual behaviour is a key source of variation in infection risk, yet its effects are difficult to separate from other factors (e.g., age). Here, we combine epidemiological experiments with chemical, transcriptomic, and automated behavioural analyses in clonal ant colonies, where behavioural individuality emerges among identical workers. We find that: (1) Caenorhabditis-related nematodes parasitise ant heads and affect their survival and physiology, (2) differences in infection emerge from behavioural variation alone, and reflect spatially-organised division of labour, (3) infections affect colony social organisation by causing infected workers to stay in the nest. By disproportionately infecting some workers and shifting their spatial distribution, infections reduce division of labour and increase spatial overlap between hosts, which should facilitate parasite transmission. Thus, division of labour, a defining feature of societies, not only shapes infection risk and distribution but is also modulated by parasites.

KW - Humans

KW - Animals

KW - Pregnancy

KW - Female

KW - Ants

KW - Caenorhabditis

KW - Gene Expression Profiling

KW - Labor, Obstetric

KW - Social Group

U2 - 10.1038/s41467-023-40983-7

DO - 10.1038/s41467-023-40983-7

M3 - Article

C2 - 37634010

VL - 14

JO - Nature Communications

JF - Nature Communications

SN - 2041-1723

IS - 1

M1 - 5233

ER -