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Draft genome of the globally widespread and invasive Argentine ant (Linepithema humile)

Smith, Christopher D ; Zimin, Aleksey ; Holt, Carson ; Abouheif, Ehab ; Benton, Richard ; Cash, Elizabeth ; Croset, Vincent ; Currie, Cameron R ; Elhaik, Eran LU orcid and Elsik, Christine G , et al. (2011) In Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 108(14). p.5673-5678
Abstract

Ants are some of the most abundant and familiar animals on Earth, and they play vital roles in most terrestrial ecosystems. Although all ants are eusocial, and display a variety of complex and fascinating behaviors, few genomic resources exist for them. Here, we report the draft genome sequence of a particularly widespread and well-studied species, the invasive Argentine ant (Linepithema humile), which was accomplished using a combination of 454 (Roche) and Illumina sequencing and community-based funding rather than federal grant support. Manual annotation of >1,000 genes from a variety of different gene families and functional classes reveals unique features of the Argentine ant's biology, as well as similarities to Apis mellifera... (More)

Ants are some of the most abundant and familiar animals on Earth, and they play vital roles in most terrestrial ecosystems. Although all ants are eusocial, and display a variety of complex and fascinating behaviors, few genomic resources exist for them. Here, we report the draft genome sequence of a particularly widespread and well-studied species, the invasive Argentine ant (Linepithema humile), which was accomplished using a combination of 454 (Roche) and Illumina sequencing and community-based funding rather than federal grant support. Manual annotation of >1,000 genes from a variety of different gene families and functional classes reveals unique features of the Argentine ant's biology, as well as similarities to Apis mellifera and Nasonia vitripennis. Distinctive features of the Argentine ant genome include remarkable expansions of gustatory (116 genes) and odorant receptors (367 genes), an abundance of cytochrome P450 genes (>110), lineage-specific expansions of yellow/major royal jelly proteins and desaturases, and complete CpG DNA methylation and RNAi toolkits. The Argentine ant genome contains fewer immune genes than Drosophila and Tribolium, which may reflect the prominent role played by behavioral and chemical suppression of pathogens. Analysis of the ratio of observed to expected CpG nucleotides for genes in the reproductive development and apoptosis pathways suggests higher levels of methylation than in the genome overall. The resources provided by this genome sequence will offer an abundance of tools for researchers seeking to illuminate the fascinating biology of this emerging model organism.

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publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
keywords
Animals, Ants/genetics, Base Sequence, California, DNA Methylation, Gene Library, Genetics, Population, Genome, Insect/genetics, Genomics/methods, Hierarchy, Social, Molecular Sequence Data, Phylogeny, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide/genetics, Receptors, Odorant/genetics, Sequence Analysis, DNA
in
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
volume
108
issue
14
pages
5673 - 5678
publisher
National Academy of Sciences
external identifiers
  • scopus:79954986915
  • pmid:21282631
ISSN
1091-6490
DOI
10.1073/pnas.1008617108
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
6a57b293-70b9-48fb-8bfa-4357551dec76
date added to LUP
2019-11-10 16:47:34
date last changed
2024-02-16 00:56:51
@article{6a57b293-70b9-48fb-8bfa-4357551dec76,
  abstract     = {{<p>Ants are some of the most abundant and familiar animals on Earth, and they play vital roles in most terrestrial ecosystems. Although all ants are eusocial, and display a variety of complex and fascinating behaviors, few genomic resources exist for them. Here, we report the draft genome sequence of a particularly widespread and well-studied species, the invasive Argentine ant (Linepithema humile), which was accomplished using a combination of 454 (Roche) and Illumina sequencing and community-based funding rather than federal grant support. Manual annotation of &gt;1,000 genes from a variety of different gene families and functional classes reveals unique features of the Argentine ant's biology, as well as similarities to Apis mellifera and Nasonia vitripennis. Distinctive features of the Argentine ant genome include remarkable expansions of gustatory (116 genes) and odorant receptors (367 genes), an abundance of cytochrome P450 genes (&gt;110), lineage-specific expansions of yellow/major royal jelly proteins and desaturases, and complete CpG DNA methylation and RNAi toolkits. The Argentine ant genome contains fewer immune genes than Drosophila and Tribolium, which may reflect the prominent role played by behavioral and chemical suppression of pathogens. Analysis of the ratio of observed to expected CpG nucleotides for genes in the reproductive development and apoptosis pathways suggests higher levels of methylation than in the genome overall. The resources provided by this genome sequence will offer an abundance of tools for researchers seeking to illuminate the fascinating biology of this emerging model organism.</p>}},
  author       = {{Smith, Christopher D and Zimin, Aleksey and Holt, Carson and Abouheif, Ehab and Benton, Richard and Cash, Elizabeth and Croset, Vincent and Currie, Cameron R and Elhaik, Eran and Elsik, Christine G and Fave, Marie-Julie and Fernandes, Vilaiwan and Gadau, Jürgen and Gibson, Joshua D and Graur, Dan and Grubbs, Kirk J and Hagen, Darren E and Helmkampf, Martin and Holley, Jo-Anne and Hu, Hao and Viniegra, Ana Sofia Ibarraran and Johnson, Brian R and Johnson, Reed M and Khila, Abderrahman and Kim, Jay W and Laird, Joseph and Mathis, Kaitlyn A and Moeller, Joseph A and Muñoz-Torres, Monica C and Murphy, Marguerite C and Nakamura, Rin and Nigam, Surabhi and Overson, Rick P and Placek, Jennifer E and Rajakumar, Rajendhran and Reese, Justin T and Robertson, Hugh M and Smith, Chris R and Suarez, Andrew V and Suen, Garret and Suhr, Elissa L and Tao, Shu and Torres, Candice W and van Wilgenburg, Ellen and Viljakainen, Lumi and Walden, Kimberly K O and Wild, Alexander L and Yandell, Mark and Yorke, James A and Tsutsui, Neil D}},
  issn         = {{1091-6490}},
  keywords     = {{Animals; Ants/genetics; Base Sequence; California; DNA Methylation; Gene Library; Genetics, Population; Genome, Insect/genetics; Genomics/methods; Hierarchy, Social; Molecular Sequence Data; Phylogeny; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide/genetics; Receptors, Odorant/genetics; Sequence Analysis, DNA}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{04}},
  number       = {{14}},
  pages        = {{5673--5678}},
  publisher    = {{National Academy of Sciences}},
  series       = {{Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America}},
  title        = {{Draft genome of the globally widespread and invasive Argentine ant (Linepithema humile)}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1008617108}},
  doi          = {{10.1073/pnas.1008617108}},
  volume       = {{108}},
  year         = {{2011}},
}