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Title: The genome of the fire ant Solenopsis invicta

Author
item WURM, YANNICK - University Of Lausanne
item WANG, JOHN - University Of Lausanne
item RIBA-GROGNUZ, OKSANA - University Of Lausanne
item CORONA, MIGUEL - University Of Lausanne
item NYGAARD, SANNE - University Of Copenhagen
item HUNT, BRENDAN - Georgia Institute Of Technology
item INGRAM, KRISTA - Colgate University
item FALQUET, LAURENT - University Of Lausanne
item NIPITWATTANAPHON, MINGKWAN - University Of Lausanne
item GOTZEK, DIETRICH - Smithsonian Institute
item DIJKSTRA, MICHIEL - University Of Lausanne
item OETTLER, JAN - University Of Regensburg
item SHIH, CHENG-JEN - National Taiwan University
item WU, WEN-JER - National Taiwan University
item SCOTTY YANG, CHIN-CHENG - National Taiwan University
item THOMAS, JEROME - University Of Lausanne
item BEAUDOING, EMMANUEL - University Of Lausanne
item PRADERVAND, SYLVAIN - University Of Lausanne
item FLEGEL, VOLKER - University Of Lausanne
item FABBRETTI, ROBERTO - University Of Lausanne
item STOCKINGER, HEINZ - University Of Lausanne
item LONG, LI - University Of Lausanne
item FARMERIE, BILL - University Of Florida
item OAKEY, JANE - Queensland University - Australia
item HARKINS, TIMOTHY - Roche Applied Science
item BOOMSMA, JACOBUS - University Of Copenhagen
item PAMILO, PEKKA - University Of Helsinki
item YI, SOOJIN - Georgia Institute Of Technology
item HEINZE, JUERGEN - University Of Regensburg
item GOODISMAN, MICHAEL - Georgia Institute Of Technology
item FARINELLI, LAURENT - Fasteris Sa
item HARSHMAN, KEITH - University Of Lausanne
item HULO, NICOLAS - University Of Geneva
item CERUTTI, LORENZO - University Of Geneva
item XENARIOS, IOANNIS - University Of Geneva
item Shoemaker, David
item KELLER, LAURENT - University Of Lausanne

Submitted to: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/12/2010
Publication Date: 1/31/2011
Citation: Wurm, Y., Wang, J., Riba-Grognuz, O., Corona, M., Nygaard, S., Hunt, B.G., Ingram, K.K., Falquet, L., Nipitwattanaphon, M., Gotzek, D., Dijkstra, M.B., Oettler, J., Shih, C., Wu, W., Scotty Yang, C., Thomas, J., Beaudoing, E., Pradervand, S., Flegel, V., Fabbretti, R., Stockinger, H., Long, L., Farmerie, B., Oakey, J., Harkins, T., Boomsma, J.J., Pamilo, P., Yi, S.V., Heinze, J., Goodisman, M.A., Farinelli, L., Harshman, K., Hulo, N., Cerutti, L., Xenarios, I., Shoemaker, D.D., Keller, L. 2011. The genome of the fire ant Solenopsis invicta. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 10:1073.

Interpretive Summary: Fire ants are considered significant ecological, agricultural, and public health pest throughout their invasive range in the U.S.A. A Scientist at the Center for Medical, Agricultural, and Veterinary Entomology, USDA-ARS, Gainesville, Florida and scientists from several institutions around the world present a draft genome sequence of the fire ant Solenopsis invicta. Several unique aspects of the fire genome are described that are likely linked to the complex social behavior of this species. These extensive sequence data provide a new rich resource for functional genomic studies of this pest ant.

Technical Abstract: Ants have evolved very complex societies and are key ecosystem members. Some of them are also major pests, as exemplified by the fire ant Solenopsis invicta. We present here the draft genome of S. invicta, assembled from 454 and Illumina reads obtained from a focal haploid male and his brothers. In contrast to other insects, and similar to the honey bee, S. invicta has only two orthologous ILPs and two insulin/IGF-1 receptors. Phylogenetic analyses suggest that these two receptors resulted from an ancient duplication, and that subsequent losses occurred in Diptera and Nasonia. S. invicta also has a functional DNA methylation system, as well as a single putative telomerase ortholog. EST data indicate that this S. invicta telomerase ortholog has at least four strongly supported splice-forms that differ in their use of two sets of mutually exclusive exons. We identified 320 putative Olfactory Receptors, the largest repertoire reported so far in insects. Comparative analyses also reveal an expansion of a specific family of lipid processing genes, possibly associated with the particular mode of colony founding of ants. Furthermore, the fire ant genome harbors four adjacent copies of vitellogenin. Phylogenetic analysis reveals that an ancestral vitellogenin gene first underwent duplication, followed by possibly independent duplications of each of the daughter vitellogenins. The vitellogenin genes have undergone subfunctionalization with queen- and worker-specific expression possibly reflecting differential selection acting on the queen and worker castes. Several unique aspects of the fire genome are likely linked to the complex social behavior of this species.