TY - CONF A1 - McMahon, Dino Peter T1 - Termite Immunity (a molecular perspective) N2 - In this presentation, an overview of the termite immune system is given. The presentation covers the mechanistic underpinnings of the canonical immune pathways in insects; where there are areas of conservation or divergence in termites, as well as briefly going over some key gaps in knowledge. External immune capabilities are discussed as well as the implications and consequences of sociality for the evolution of collective immune defense systems in termites. T2 - International Termite Course (ITC) 2025 CY - Davie, FL, USA DA - 10.06.2025 KW - Termite KW - Immunity KW - Molecular KW - Evolution PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64745 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hellemans, S. A1 - Rocha, M. M. A1 - Wang, M. A1 - Romero Arias, J. A1 - Aanen, D. K. A1 - Bagnères, A.-G. A1 - Buček, A. A1 - Carrijo, T. F. A1 - Chouvenc, T. A1 - Cuezzo, C. A1 - Constantini, J. P. A1 - Constantino, R. A1 - Dedeine, F. A1 - Deligne, J. A1 - Eggleton, P. A1 - Evans, T. A. A1 - Hanus, R. A1 - Harrison, Mark C. A1 - Harry, M. A1 - Josens, G. A1 - Jouault, C. A1 - Kalleshwaraswamy, C. M. A1 - Kaymak, E. A1 - Korb, J. A1 - Lee, C.-Y. A1 - Legendre, F. A1 - Li, H.-F. A1 - Lo, N. A1 - Lu, T. A1 - Matsuura, K. A1 - Maekawa, K. A1 - McMahon, Dino Peter A1 - Mizumoto, N. A1 - Oliveira, D. E. A1 - Poulsen, M. A1 - Sillam-Dussès, D. A1 - Su, N.-Y. A1 - Tokuda, G. A1 - Vargo, E. L. A1 - Ware, J. L. A1 - Šobotník, J. A1 - Scheffrahn, R. H. A1 - Cancello, E. A1 - Roisin, Y. A1 - Engel, M. S. A1 - Bourguignon, T. T1 - Genomic data provide insights into the classification of extant termites N2 - The higher classification of termites requires substantial revision as the Neoisoptera, the most diverse termite lineage, comprise many paraphyletic and polyphyletic higher taxa. Here, we produce an updated termite classification using genomic-scale analyses. We reconstruct phylogenies under diverse substitution models with ultraconserved elements analyzed as concatenated matrices or within the multi-species coalescence framework. Our classification is further supported by analyses controlling for rogue loci and taxa, and topological tests. We show that the Neoisoptera are composed of seven family-level monophyletic lineages, including the Heterotermitidae Froggatt, Psammotermitidae Holmgren, and Termitogetonidae Holmgren, raised from subfamilial rank. The species-rich Termitidae are composed of 18 subfamily-level monophyletic lineages, including the new subfamilies Crepititermitinae, Cylindrotermitinae, Forficulitermitinae, Neocapritermitinae, Protohamitermitinae, and Promirotermitinae; and the revived Amitermitinae Kemner, Microcerotermitinae Holmgren, and Mirocapritermitinae Kemner. Building an updated taxonomic classification on the foundation of unambiguously supported monophyletic lineages makes it highly resilient to potential destabilization caused by the future availability of novel phylogenetic markers and methods. The taxonomic stability is further guaranteed by the modularity of the new termite classification, designed to accommodate as-yet undescribed species with uncertain affinities to the herein delimited monophyletic lineages in the form of new families or subfamilies. KW - Termite KW - Taxonomy KW - Evolution PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-608276 DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-51028-y VL - 15 IS - 1 SP - 1 EP - 17 PB - Springer Science and Business Media LLC AN - OPUS4-60827 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Biedermann, P. H. W. A1 - Rohlfs, M. A1 - McMahon, Dino Peter A1 - Meunier, J. T1 - Editorial: Microbial drivers of sociality – From multicellularity to animal societies N2 - While sociality is present in a taxonomically diverse number of species, most animals remain solitary (Bourke, 2011). Over the last centuries, this apparent imbalance in social and non-social animals has led to a great deal of research aimed at shedding light on the biotic and abiotic factors explaining the emergence and maintenance of sociality in nature (West et al., 2015). Among them, microbes were quickly identified as a major problem for the evolution of social life, because frequent contact between group members typically facilitates the transmission of pathogens, high nest fidelity favours the establishment of microbial pathogens close to their social hosts and, finally, because social groups often exhibit limited genetic diversity and thus limited genetic resistance against certain pathogen strains (Schmid-Hempel, 1998; Cremer et al., 2007). However, this long-standing view has changed considerably over the last few years. Recent research indeed revealed that group living may be more effective than solitary living to Limit the risk of infection by pathogenic microbes because group living also allows the development of an additional layer of defence against pathogens in the form of social immunity (Cremer et al., 2007; Cotter and Kilner, 2010). Under strong pressure from pathogens, microbes could therefore promote, rather than hinder, the evolutionary transition from solitary to group Living (Meunier, 2015; Biedermann and Rohlfs, 2017). Moreover, we are increasingly aware that many microbes provide essential benefits to their hosts by performing critical digestive, physiological, and reproductive functions (Engel and Moran, 2013; McFall-Ngai et al., 2013). The need to Access beneficial microbes may thus have played a role in the expression of frequent and tight interactions between conspecifics and ultimately promoted social evolution (Wilson, 1971; Onchuru et al., 2018). Finally, a growing number of studies suggest that microbes could enforce the Aggregation and expression of cooperative behaviours of the hosts to increase their chance of reaching new hosts and may therefore be involved in the evolution of host sociality (Lewin-Epstein et al., 2017) (but see Johnson and Foster, 2018). KW - Microbe KW - Sociality KW - Multicellularity KW - Evolution KW - Symbiosis PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-538741 DO - https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2021.752906 SN - 2296-701X VL - 9 SP - 1 EP - 4 PB - Frontiers Media CY - Lausanne AN - OPUS4-53874 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -