2. Academic Validation
  3. Nutritional specialization and social evolution in woodroaches and termites

Nutritional specialization and social evolution in woodroaches and termites

  • Science. 2026 Apr 9;392(6794):eadt2178. doi: 10.1126/science.adt2178.
Yingying Cui # 1 2,  Fangfang Liu # 1,  Dongwei Yuan # 1,  Mingtao Liao # 1,  Zhaoxin Li # 1,  Yun-Xia Luan # 1,  Shuxin Yu 1,  Kesen Zhu 1,  Qian Gao 1,  Yunlong Cheng 1,  Gangqi Fang 3,  Zongqing Wang 4,  Shiming Zhu 1,  Jinlan Xu 5,  Shuai Wang 1,  Melissa Sánchez Herrera 6 7 8,  Qiuying Huang 9,  Xiaohong Su 10,  Zhang Wang 11,  Hui Xiang 1,  Nathan Lo 12,  Jacobus J Boomsma 13,  Shuai Zhan 3,  Sheng Li 1 2
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental Biology and Applied Technology, Institute of Insect Science and Technology & School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.
  • 2 Guangmeiyuan R&D Center, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental Biology and Applied Technology, South China Normal University, Meizhou, China.
  • 3 State Key Laboratory of Plant Trait Design, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
  • 4 College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Beibei, Chongqing, China.
  • 5 College of Life Sciences, China West Normal University, Nanchong, Sichuan, China.
  • 6 Department of Museum Research and Collections, University of Alabama Museums, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA.
  • 7 Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA.
  • 8 Laboratorio de Zoología y Ecología Acuática, Biological Sciences Department, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia.
  • 9 Hubei Insect Resources Utilization and Sustainable Pest Management Key Laboratory, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China.
  • 10 College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an, China.
  • 11 Institute of Ecological Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.
  • 12 School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
  • 13 Department of Biology, Section for Ecology and Evolution, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
  • # Contributed equally.
PMID: 41610195 DOI: 10.1126/science.adt2178
Abstract

Woodroach biparental care and termite sibling altruism evolved from solitary cockroach ancestors after nutritional specialization on nutrient-deficient deadwood, but the accompanying genomic changes remained unclear. We sequenced eight new species of the order Blattodea, showing stepwise contracted genomes. Woodroach brood rearing remained constrained by deactivated Oxidative Phosphorylation and peroxisome genes, consistent with slow immature growth. Termites lost key genes that mediate sperm motility, corroborating that reproductive division of labor required monogamous colony founding. They also co-opted many genes from fundamental nutrition-sensitive juvenile hormone, Insulin, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), and Decapentaplegic (Dpp) signaling pathways. Thus, most larvae develop as workers by means of high energy metabolism early on, whereas reproductive nymphs highly express energy metabolism genes late in development. These pathways are consistent with obligate dependence on provisioning by specialized workers and feedback loops that allow large homeostatic colonies to evolve.

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