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2022 Fiscal Year Annual Research Report

Evolutionary process of termite construction revealed by comparative and constructive approaches

Research Project

Project/Area Number 20J00660
Allocation TypeSingle-year Grants
Research InstitutionOkinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University

Principal Investigator

水元 惟暁  沖縄科学技術大学院大学, 沖縄科学技術大学院大学、進化ゲノミクスユニット, 特別研究員(CPD)

Project Period (FY) 2020-04-24 – 2025-03-31
KeywordsTermite / Tandem run / Same sex sexual behavior / Mating / Python / Comparative analysis / Movement tracking
Outline of Annual Research Achievements

This research project aims to infer the evolutionary process of collective building in termites through a comparative analysis of nest construction across various species worldwide. However, I could not manage international travel for termite sampling in Australia. Thus, I focused on (i) compiling data from the literature to build a comprehensive dataset for termite phylogenetic comparative analysis and relate it to building behavior and (ii) behavioral observations of termite species within Japan. This year’s outcome is summarized as follows.
First, by adding more termite species this year, I finished collecting data on the tunneling behavior of 13 Japanese termite species. For data analysis, I developed a Python-based software named TManual (github.com/nobuaki-mzmt/tmanual), which assists in manually measuring the length development of animal structures.
Second, I compiled all available information about termite mating behavior from 69 species, which adds to the comparative datasets generated in the 1st-2nd years’ research (Mizumoto and Bourguignon, 2021, Proceedings B; Mizumoto et al., 2022, Evolution), which result in a paper on the evolution of same-sex sexual behavior in termites (Mizumoto et al., 2022, PNAS). Third, we obtained more datasets on termite movement patterns on the petri-dish to examine how evolution of nesting biology can result in the differentiated movement capacity of termites. The results have been presented at 5 different conferences.

Current Status of Research Progress
Current Status of Research Progress

1: Research has progressed more than it was originally planned.

Reason

This project develops software to quantify the length-development of animal architecture. The paper on the development of this software is under review and will be published soon (and other collaborators use the software for a variety of projects). With the help of TManual, comparative behavioral datasets should be published near future with some more additional inputs.
The literature survey performed in this project produced a paper in PNAS, which is one of the world’s most-cited and comprehensive multidisciplinary scientific journals; thus, this outcome is significant. This project also contributed to producing three more papers this year.

Strategy for Future Research Activity

I will visit Australia to obtain data from Mastotermes, Porotermes, Stolotermes, and Schedorhinotermes termites. The information will be compared with the termite species in Japan.

  • Research Products

    (19 results)

All 2023 2022

All Journal Article (4 results) (of which Int'l Joint Research: 3 results,  Peer Reviewed: 4 results,  Open Access: 3 results) Presentation (15 results) (of which Int'l Joint Research: 7 results,  Invited: 2 results)

  • [Journal Article] Functional and mechanistic diversity in ant tandem communication2023

    • Author(s)
      Mizumoto Nobuaki、Tanaka Yasunari、Valentini Gabriele、Richardson Thomas O.、Annagiri Sumana、Pratt Stephen C.、Shimoji Hiroyuki
    • Journal Title

      iScience

      Volume: 26 Pages: 106418~106418

    • DOI

      10.1016/j.isci.2023.106418

    • Peer Reviewed / Open Access / Int'l Joint Research
  • [Journal Article] Light alters activity but does not disturb tandem coordination of termite mating pairs2022

    • Author(s)
      Mizumoto Nobuaki、Bourguignon Thomas
    • Journal Title

      Ecological Entomology

      Volume: 48 Pages: 145~153

    • DOI

      10.1111/een.13209

    • Peer Reviewed
  • [Journal Article] Age-based spatial distribution of workers is resilient to worker loss in a subterranean termite2022

    • Author(s)
      Lee Sang-Bin、Chouvenc Thomas、Mizumoto Nobuaki、Mullins Aaron、Su Nan-Yao
    • Journal Title

      Scientific Reports

      Volume: 12 Pages: NA

    • DOI

      10.1038/s41598-022-11512-1

    • Peer Reviewed / Open Access / Int'l Joint Research
  • [Journal Article] Ancestral sex-role plasticity facilitates the evolution of same-sex sexual behavior2022

    • Author(s)
      Mizumoto Nobuaki、Bourguignon Thomas、Bailey Nathan W.
    • Journal Title

      Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

      Volume: 119 Pages: e2212401119

    • DOI

      10.1073/pnas.2212401119

    • Peer Reviewed / Open Access / Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] Nest complexity reflects individual worker behavior of termites2023

    • Author(s)
      Kikuchi K., Mizumoto N.
    • Organizer
      70th Annual Meeting of Ecological Society of Japan (ESJ70)
  • [Presentation] Quantifying behavior of extinct organisms captured in amber by empirically simulating entrapment process of extant relatives2023

    • Author(s)
      Mizumoto N., Bucek A.
    • Organizer
      70th Annual Meeting of Ecological Society of Japan (ESJ70)
  • [Presentation] Evolution of sideways movements in crabs: ancestral state reconstruction of behavioral traits from extant species2023

    • Author(s)
      Taniguchi J., Inoue T, Hung J-F, Hirai A., Mizumoto N., Takeshita F., Kawabata Y.
    • Organizer
      70th Annual Meeting of Ecological Society of Japan (ESJ70)
  • [Presentation] カニ類における進行方向と形態の関係性の解明2023

    • Author(s)
      Inoue T, Taniguchi J., Hung J-F, Mizumoto N., Hirai A., Takeshita F., Sato T., Kawabata Y.
    • Organizer
      70th Annual Meeting of Ecological Society of Japan (ESJ70)
  • [Presentation] Nest complexity reflects individual worker behavior of termites.2022

    • Author(s)
      Kikuchi K. & Mizumoto N.
    • Organizer
      ASAB Winter 2022
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] Nest is an indicator of inherent worker movements in termites.2022

    • Author(s)
      Kikuchi K. & Mizumoto N.
    • Organizer
      Roles of Heterogeneity in Nonequilibrium Collective Dynamics 2022 (RHINO2022)
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] Balancing within- and among-group replicates in designing experiments: Social insect research examples.2022

    • Author(s)
      Lynch C., Starkey M., Pavlic P., Montgomery D., & Mizumoto N.
    • Organizer
      IUSSI 2022
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] The evolution of termite nests promoted the invasion by termitophilous rove beetles2022

    • Author(s)
      Mizumoto N., Bourguignon T., Kanao T.
    • Organizer
      IUSSI 2022
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] Ancestral sex-role plasticity facilitates the evolution of same-sex sexual behavior2022

    • Author(s)
      Bourguignon T., Mizumoto N., Bailey N.
    • Organizer
      IUSSI 2022
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] Nest is an indicator of inherent worker movements in termites.2022

    • Author(s)
      Kikuchi K. & Mizumoto N.
    • Organizer
      Termite Course 2022
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] カニ類における進行方向と形態の関連性の解明2022

    • Author(s)
      井上翼・谷口隼也・Jung-Fu Hung・水元惟暁・平井厚志・竹下文雄・河端雄毅
    • Organizer
      動物行動学会第41回大会
  • [Presentation] 単個体の行動パターンから見るシロアリの営巣戦略の進化2022

    • Author(s)
      菊池顕生、水元惟暁
    • Organizer
      個体群生態学会第38回大会
  • [Presentation] カニ類における進行方向と形態の関連性の解明2022

    • Author(s)
      井上翼・谷口隼也・Jung-Fu Hung・水元惟暁・平井厚志・竹下文雄・河端雄毅
    • Organizer
      日本甲殻類学会第60回大会
  • [Presentation] Evolutionary perspectives of termite collective behavior2022

    • Author(s)
      Mizumoto N.
    • Organizer
      Collective Intelligence in Living/Non-Livings Populations
    • Invited
  • [Presentation] Evolution of termite society and collective behavior2022

    • Author(s)
      Mizumoto N.
    • Organizer
      Roles of Heterogeneity in Nonequilibrium Collective Dynamics 2022 (RHINO2022)
    • Int'l Joint Research / Invited

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Published: 2023-12-25  

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