Draft genome of the red harvester ant Pogonomyrmex barbatus
Chris R. Smith, Earlham College
Christopher D. Smith, San Francisco State University
Hugh M. Robertson, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Martin Helmkampf, School of Life Sciences
Aleksey Zimin, College of Computer, Mathematical, & Natural Sciences
Mark Yandell, University of Utah School of Medicine
Carson Holt, University of Utah School of Medicine
Hao Hu, University of Utah School of Medicine
Ehab Abouheif, Université McGill
Richard Benton, Université de Lausanne (UNIL)
Elizabeth Cash, School of Life Sciences
Vincent Croset, Université de Lausanne (UNIL)
Cameron R. Currie, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Eran Elhaik, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Christine G. Elsik, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Marie Julie Favé, Université McGill
Vilaiwan Fernandes, Université McGill
Joshua D. Gibson, School of Life Sciences
Dan Graur, College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
Wulfila Gronenberg, The University of Arizona
Kirk J. Grubbs, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Darren E. Hagen, Georgetown University
Ana Sofia Ibarraran Viniegra, Université McGill
Brian R. Johnson, Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management
Reed M. Johnson, University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Abderrahman Khila, Université McGill
Jay W. Kim, San Francisco State University
Kaitlyn A. Mathis, Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management
Monica C. Munoz-Torres, Georgetown University
Marguerite C. Murphy, San Francisco State University
Julie A. Mustard, School of Life Sciences
Rin Nakamura, San Francisco State University
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 betweenthe queenandworker castes (e.g.,wingsandovaries) showsignatures of increasedmethylation 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 inparallel with the development of the North American deserts.
