美国加州理工学院Joseph Parker团队提出了通过生态困局实现共生锁定。2026年2月5日，国际知名学术期刊《细胞》发表了这一成果。

该课题组研究人员报告了甲虫体内的一种生物隐身装置，它可以渗透到蚂蚁群体中。通过转录沉默，甲虫关闭了角质层碳氢化合物（CHCs）的生物合成，CHCs是一种身体表面信息素，具有多效性，作为蜡质干燥屏障。沉默机制将甲虫转化为"化学空白状态"，使其能通过蚂蚁的梳理行为获取宿主CHCs，从而实现完美的化学拟态并被蚁群接纳。然而，沉默机制是不可逆转的，迫使甲虫长期依赖蚂蚁来维持模仿和防止干燥。课题组研究人员表明沉默机制的进化逆转将使甲虫被蚂蚁检测到；相反，甲虫对蚂蚁的吸引力的逆转会使它容易干燥。共生锁定可能源于共生性状之间的上位性，使物种陷入进退维谷的演化困局，阻碍了自由生活的回归。

研究人员表示，为什么共生生物进化对宿主的不可逆依赖是一个悬而未决的问题。

附：英文原文

Title: Symbiotic entrenchment through ecological Catch-22

Author: Thomas H. Naragon, Joani W. Viliunas, Mina Yousefelahiyeh, Adrian Brückner, Julian M. Wagner, K. Esther Okamoto, Hannah M. Ryon, Danny Collinson, Sheila A. Kitchen, Reto S. Wijker, Alex L. Sessions, Joseph Parker

Issue&Volume: 2026-02-05

Abstract: Why symbiotic organisms evolve irreversible dependencies on hosts is an outstanding question. We report a biological stealth device in a beetle that permits infiltration of ant societies. Via transcriptional silencing, the beetle switches off biosynthesis of cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs)—body surface pheromones that function pleiotropically as a waxy desiccation barrier. Silencing transforms the beetle into a chemical blank slate onto which ant CHCs are transferred via grooming behavior, leading to perfect chemical mimicry and acceptance into the colony. Silencing is irreversible, however, forcing the beetle into a chronic dependence on ants to both maintain mimicry and prevent desiccation. We show that evolutionary reversion of the silencing mechanism would render the beetle detectable to ants; conversely, reversion of the beetle’s attraction to ants would render it desiccation prone. Symbiotic entrenchment can thus arise from epistasis between symbiotic traits, locking lineages into a Catch-22 that obstructs reversion to living freely.

DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2025.12.041

Source: https://www.cell.com/cell/abstract/S0092-8674(25)01490-4