אודות
Insect societies are a unique model system for investigating the genetic and evolutionary mechanisms at the basis of animal sociality. Relative to vertebrates, insect social behavior is more mechanistic so it may be easier to find its genetic basis. We study social evolution in ants using genomic tools: next generation sequencing technologies and computational analysis of molecular evolution. 2011 was the year of the genomic revolution for ant research. We used to know close to nothing about the genes of ants and suddenly full genomes are being published. The first seven species were sequenced and published in 2011, and many more since then. These genomic sequences allow us to compare different species and look for the genes responsible for the evolution of sociality in ants. Furthermore, recent dramatic advances in sequencing technologies allow us to use whole genome sequencing of many individuals as a routine tool for focused studies on the recent evolution of social traits in specific systems such as the "social chromosome" of the fire ant Solenopsis invicta or the pheromone signaling responsible for nestmate recognition in Cataglyphis desert ants.
פרסומים
- Statistical analysis and simulations that account for simultaneous effects of positive, negative, and no crossover interference in multilocus recombination data, Sapielkin, S., Frenkel, Z., Privman, E. & Korol, A. B., Dec 2026, In: BMC Genomics. 27, 1, 60.
- Adaptive evolution of odorant receptors is associated with elaborations of social organization in ants, Pellen, Y., Vizueta, J., Beck, E., Liebig, J., Schrader, L. & Privman, E., May 2026, In: Molecular Biology and Evolution. 43, 5, msag103.
- Urbanisation Drives Microevolution in the Egyptian Fruit Bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus), Nissan, Y., Inbar, S., Privman, E., Yovel, Y. & Razgour, O., Apr 2026, In: Evolutionary Applications. 19, 4, e70243.
- Repeated evolution of supergenes on an ancient social chromosome, Lajmi, A., Cohen, P., Lee, C. C., Frenkel, Z., Pellen, Y. & Privman, E., 9 Mar 2026, In: Current Biology. 36, 5, p. 1233-1246.e4
- Genetic Basis of Cuticular Hydrocarbon Variation in the Desert Ant Cataglyphis niger, Inbar, S., Saied, B., Cohen, P., Frenkel, Z., Pellen, Y., Korol, A. B. & Privman, E., Mar 2026, In: Ecology and Evolution. 16, 3, e73108.
- Genomic Architecture of Nestmate Recognition Cues in the Desert Ant, Cohen, P., Inbar, S. & Privman, E., Dec 2025, In: Ecology and Evolution. 15, 12, e72726.
- Adaptive radiation and social evolution of the ants, Vizueta, J., Xiong, Z., Ding, G., Larsen, R. S., Ran, H., Gao, Q., Stiller, J., Dai, W., Jiang, W., Zhao, J., Guo, C., Zhang, X., Zuo, D., Zhong, W., Schiøtt, M., Liu, C., Zhang, H., Dai, X., Andreu, I. & Shi, Y. & 27 others, , 4 Sep 2025, In: Cell. 188, 18, p. 4828
- Optimizing ddRAD sequencing for population genomic studies with ddgRADer, Lajmi, A., Glinka, F. & Privman, E., Jul 2025, In: Molecular Ecology Resources. 25, 5, e13870.
- Evolutionary genomics of socially polymorphic populations of Pogonomyrmex californicus, Errbii, M., Ernst, U. R., Lajmi, A., Privman, E., Gadau, J. & Schrader, L., Dec 2024, In: BMC Biology. 22, 1, 109.
- Putting hornets on the genomic map, Favreau, E., Cini, A., Taylor, D., Câmara Ferreira, F., Bentley, M. A., Cappa, F., Cervo, R., Privman, E., Schneider, J., Thiéry, D., Mashoodh, R., Wyatt, C. D. R., Brown, R. L., Bodrug-Schepers, A., Stralis-Pavese, N., Dohm, J. C., Mead, D., Himmelbauer, H., Guigo, R. & Sumner, S., Dec 2023, In: Scientific Reports. 13, 1, 6232.
- Social isolation shortens lifespan through oxidative stress in ants, Koto, A., Tamura, M., Wong, P. S., Aburatani, S., Privman, E., Stoffel, C., Crespi, A., McKenzie, S. K., La Mendola, C., Kay, T. & Keller, L., Dec 2023, In: Nature Communications. 14, 1, 5493.
- Ancient DNA from a lost Negev Highlands desert grape reveals a Late Antiquity wine lineage, Cohen, P., Bacilieri, R., Ramos-Madrigal, J., Privman, E., Boaretto, E., Weber, A., Fuks, D., Weiss, E., Erickson-Gini, T., Bucking, S., Tepper, Y., Cvikel, D., Schmidt, J., Gilbert, T. P., Wales, N., Bar-Oz, G. & Meiri, M., 25 Apr 2023, In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 120, 17, e2213563120.
- The social supergene dates back to the speciation time of two Solenopsis fire ant species, Cohen, P. & Privman, E., 1 Dec 2020, In: Scientific Reports. 10, 1, 11538.
- Publisher Correction: The Interplay between Incipient Species and Social Polymorphism in the Desert Ant Cataglyphis, Reiner Brodetzki, T., Inbar, S., Cohen, P., Aron, S., Privman, E. & Hefetz, A., 4 Feb 2020, In: Scientific Reports. 10, 1, 2179.
- Comparative study of population genomic approaches for mapping colony-level traits, Inbar, S., Cohen, P., Yahav, T. & Privman, E., 2020, In: PLOS Computational Biology. 16, 3, e1007653.
- The Interplay between Incipient Species and Social Polymorphism in the Desert Ant Cataglyphis, Brodetzki, T. R., Inbar, S., Cohen, P., Aron, S., Privman, E. & Hefetz, A., 1 Dec 2019, In: Scientific Reports. 9, 1, 9495.
- A comparative analysis of methods for de novo assembly of hymenopteran genomes using either haploid or diploid samples, Yahav, T. & Privman, E., 1 Dec 2019, In: Scientific Reports. 9, 1, 6480.
- Has gene expression neofunctionalization in the fire ant antennae contributed to queen discrimination behavior?, Dang, V. D., Cohanim, A. B., Fontana, S., Privman, E. & Wang, J., 1 Nov 2019, In: Ecology and Evolution. 9, 22, p. 12754-12766 13 p.
- Erratum: Oral transfer of chemical cues, growth proteins and hormones in social insects (eLife (2016) 5 PII: e51082), LeBoeuf, A. C., Waridel, P., Brent, C. S., Gonçalves, A. N., Menin, L., Ortiz, D., Riba-Grognuz, O., Koto, A., Soares, Z. G., Privman, E., Miska, E. A., Benton, R. & Keller, L., 19 Aug 2019, In: eLife. 8, e51082.
- Speciation and hybridization in invasive fire ants, Cohen, P. & Privman, E., 29 May 2019, In: BMC Evolutionary Biology. 19, 1, 111.
- Molecular evolution of juvenile hormone esterase-like proteins in a socially exchanged fluid, LeBoeuf, A. C., Cohanim, A. B., Stoffel, C., Brent, C. S., Waridel, P., Privman, E., Keller, L. & Benton, R., 1 Dec 2018, In: Scientific Reports. 8, 1, 17830.
- Neofunctionalization in ligand binding sites of ant olfactory receptors, Saad, R., Cohanim, A. B., Kosloff, M. & Privman, E., 1 Sep 2018, In: Genome Biology and Evolution. 10, 9, p. 2490-2500 11 p.
- Positive selection on sociobiological traits in invasive fire ants, Privman, E., Cohen, P., Cohanim, A. B., Riba-Grognuz, O., Shoemaker, D. W. & Keller, L., Aug 2018, In: Molecular Ecology. 27, 15, p. 3116-3130 15 p.
- Evolution of olfactory functions on the fire ant social chromosome, Cohanim, A. B., Amsalem, E., Saad, R., Shoemaker, D. W. & Privman, E., 2018, In: Genome Biology and Evolution. 10, 11, p. 2947-2960 14 p.
- Oral transfer of chemical cues, growth proteins and hormones in social insects, Leboeuf, A. C., Waridel, P., Brent, C. S., Gonçalves, A. N., Menin, L., Ortiz, D., Riba-Grognuz, O., Koto, A., Soares, Z. G., Privman, E., Miska, E. A., Benton, R. & Keller, L., 29 Nov 2016, In: eLife. 5, NOVEMBER2016, e20375.
- Higher expression of somatic repair genes in long-lived ant queens than workers, Lucas, E. R., Privman, E. & Keller, L., 2016, In: Aging. 8, 9, p. 1940-1951 12 p.
- Patterns of positive selection in seven ant genomes, Roux, J., Privman, E., Moretti, S., Daub, J. T., Robinson-Rechavi, M. & Keller, L., Jul 2014, In: Molecular Biology and Evolution. 31, 7, p. 1661-1685 25 p.
- Bioinformatic identification of homing endonucleases and their target sites, Privman, E., 2014, Homing Endonucleases: Methods and Protocols. Humana Press Inc., p. 27-35 9 p. (Methods in Molecular Biology; vol. 1123).
- Social insect genomes exhibit dramatic evolution in gene composition and regulation while preserving regulatory features linked to sociality, Simola, D. F., Wissler, L., Donahue, G., Waterhouse, R. M., Helmkampf, M., Roux, J., Nygaard, S., Glastad, K. M., Hagen, D. E., Viljakainen, L., Reese, J. T., Hunt, B. G., Graur, D., Elhaik, E., Kriventseva, E. V., Wen, J., Parker, B. J., Cash, E., Privman, E. & Childers, C. P. & 18 others, , Aug 2013, In: Genome Research. 23, 8, p. 1235-1247 13 p.
- Duplication and concerted evolution in a master sex determiner under balancing selection, Privman, E., Wurm, Y. & Keller, L., 7 May 2013, In: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 280, 1758, 20122968.
- Deep panning: Steps towards probing the IgOme, Ryvkin, A., Ashkenazy, H., Smelyanski, L., Kaplan, G., Penn, O., Weiss-Ottolenghi, Y., Privman, E., Ngam, P. B., Woodward, J. E., May, G. D., Bell, C., Pupko, T. & Gershoni, J. M., 1 Aug 2012, In: PLOS ONE. 7, 8, e41469.
- Improving the performance of positive selection inference by filtering unreliable alignment regions, Privman, E., Penn, O. & Pupko, T., Jan 2012, In: Molecular Biology and Evolution. 29, 1, p. 1-5 5 p.
- Native homing endonucleases can target conserved genes in humans and in animal models, Barzel, A., Privman, E., Peeri, M., Naor, A., Shachar, E., Burstein, D., Lazary, R., Gophna, U., Pupko, T. & Kupiec, M., Aug 2011, In: Nucleic Acids Research. 39, 15, p. 6646-6659 14 p.
- Homing endonucleases residing within inteins: Evolutionary puzzles awaiting genetic solutions, Barzel, A., Naor, A., Privman, E., Kupiec, M. & Gophna, U., Feb 2011, In: Biochemical Society Transactions. 39, 1, p. 169-173 5 p.
- GUIDANCE: A web server for assessing alignment confidence scores, Penn, O., Privman, E., Ashkenazy, H., Landan, G., Graur, D. & Pupko, T., 22 May 2010, In: Nucleic Acids Research. 38, SUPPL. 2, p. W23-W28 gkq443.
- An alignment confidence score capturing robustness to guide tree uncertainty, Penn, O., Privman, E., Landan, G., Graur, D. & Pupko, T., 2010, In: Molecular Biology and Evolution. 27, 8, p. 1759-1767 9 p.
- Evolution of the metazoan protein phosphatase 2C superfamily, Stern, A., Privman, E., Rasis, M., Lavi, S. & Pupko, T., Jan 2007, In: Journal of Molecular Evolution. 64, 1, p. 61-70 10 p.
- Phylogeny reconstruction: Increasing the accuracy of pairwise distance estimation using Bayesian inference of evolutionary rates, Ninio, M., Privman, E., Pupko, T. & Friedman, N., 2007, In: Bioinformatics. 23, 2, p. e136-e141