Termite queens use modified power plants inside their skin cells to chemically enslave their colonies.
A specific enzyme called EneoC is produced in mitochondria that have been repurposed to create a reproductive pheromone. This chemical is secreted directly from the queen's skin to stop other termites from breeding. It gives a single insect absolute control over the reproductive destiny of millions of individuals. Most pheromones are produced in specialized glands, but this system uses the cell's energy-producing organelles to manufacture the control signal. This discovery reveals the precise molecular machinery that maintains the rigid social structure of termite mounds.
EneoC, a queen-specific terpene synthase, produces the queen pheromone in epidermal secretory cells of Embiratermes neotenicus queens
SSRN · 6696511
Queens of eusocial insects maintain their reproductive monopoly through queen pheromones. We recently identified the sesquiterpene alcohol (3R,6E)-nerolidol (RNERO) as the queen pheromone in the termite Embiratermes neotenicus and characterized a terpene synthase, EneoC, that produces RNERO in vitro. Here, we aimed to (i) determine whether EneoC is responsible for RNERO biosynthesis in vivo, (ii) analyze its expression and protein abundance across castes in the context of terpenoid biosynthesis