Abstract:
The life-prolonging effects of antioxidants have long entered popular
culture, but the scientific community still debates whether free radicals
and the resulting oxidative stress negatively affect longevity. Social
insects are intriguing models for analysing the relationship between oxidative
stress and senescence because life histories differ vastly between
long-lived reproductives and the genetically similar but short-lived
workers. Here, we present the results of an experiment on the accumulation
of oxidative damage to proteins, and a comparative analysis of
the expression of 20 selected genes commonly involved in managing oxidative
damage, across four species of social insects: a termite, two bees
and an ant. Although the source of analysed tissue varied across the
four species, our results suggest that oxidative stress is a significant
factor in senescence and that its manifestation and antioxidant defenses
differ among species, making it difficult to find general patterns. More
detailed and controlled investigations on why responses to oxidative
stress may differ across social species may lead to a better understanding
of the relations between oxidative stress, antioxidants, social life history
and senescence.
This article is part of the theme issue ‘Ageing and sociality: why, when
and how does sociality change ageing patterns?’
