Summary: | Behavior is, in many cases, a highly plastic part of the phenotype. Individuals can change be- havioral modes over terrifically brief periods of time. Yet, sometimes, species exhibit specific behaviors so stereotypical that they can help define those species. While hormones often lead to short-term shifts in behavior and changes over the life of an individual can be due to differences in gene expression, the underlying genetics are likely responsible when a behavior is fixed within a species. These behavioral transitions can, by changing the selective forces acting on the organism, lead to a concordant and continuing change in the sequences underlying the new behavior and, potentially, the rest of the genome. In this thesis, I study the genetic underpinnings of obligately mutualistic behavior in plant-ants and the evolutionary consequences of such shifts in behavior.
|