Draft genome of the red harvester ant
Pogonomyrmex barbatusJournal Articles
Overview
Research
Identity
Additional Document Info
View All
Overview
abstract
We report the draft genome sequence of the red harvester ant,
Pogonomyrmex barbatus
. The genome was sequenced using 454 pyrosequencing, and the current assembly and annotation were completed in less than 1 y. Analyses of conserved gene groups (more than 1,200 manually annotated genes to date) suggest a high-quality assembly and annotation comparable to recently sequenced insect genomes using Sanger sequencing. The red harvester ant is a model for studying reproductive division of labor, phenotypic plasticity, and sociogenomics. Although the genome of
P. barbatus
is similar to other sequenced hymenopterans (
Apis mellifera
and
Nasonia vitripennis
) in GC content and compositional organization, and possesses a complete CpG methylation toolkit, its predicted genomic CpG content differs markedly from the other hymenopterans. Gene networks involved in generating key differences between the queen and worker castes (e.g., wings and ovaries) show signatures of increased methylation and suggest that ants and bees may have independently co-opted the same gene regulatory mechanisms for reproductive division of labor. Gene family expansions (e.g., 344 functional odorant receptors) and pseudogene accumulation in chemoreception and P450 genes compared with
A. mellifera
and
N. vitripennis
are consistent with major life-history changes during the adaptive radiation of
Pogonomyrmex
spp., perhaps in parallel with the development of the North American deserts.
