Hybrid Genome Assembly of a Neotropical Mutualistic Ant

Abstract

Abstract The success of social insects is largely intertwined with their highly advanced chemical communication system that facilitates recognition and discrimination of species and nest-mates, recruitment, and division of labor. Hydrocarbons, which cover the cuticle of insects, not only serve as waterproofing agents but also constitute a major component of this communication system. Two cryptic Crematogaster species, which share their nest with Camponotus ants, show striking diversity in their cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) profile. This mutualistic system therefore offers a great opportunity to study the genetic basis of CHC divergence between sister species. As a basis for further genome-wide studies high-quality genomes are needed. Here, we present the annotated draft genome for Crematogaster levior A. By combining the three most commonly used sequencing techniques—Illumina, PacBio, and Oxford Nanopore—we constructed a high-quality de novo ant genome. We show that even low coverage of long reads can add significantly to overall genome contiguity. Annotation of desaturase and elongase genes, which play a role in CHC biosynthesis revealed one of the largest repertoires in ants and a higher number of desaturases in general than in other Hymenoptera. This may provide a mechanistic explanation for the high diversity observed in C. levior CHC profiles.

Autoren

Juliane Hartke
Tilman Schell
Evelien Jongepier
Hanno Schmidt
Philipp P Sprenger
Juraj Paule
Erich Bornberg-Bauer
Thomas Schmitt
Florian Menzel
Markus Pfenninger
Barbara Feldmeyer

DOI

10.1093/gbe/evz159

Editoren

Laura A Katz

eISSN

1759-6653

Ausgabe der Veröffentlichung

8

Zeitschrift

Genome Biology and Evolution

Sprache

en

Online publication date

2019

Paginierung

2306 - 2311

Datum der Veröffentlichung

2019

Status

Published

Herausgeber

Oxford University Press (OUP)

Herausgeber URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evz159

Datum der Datenerfassung

2019

Titel

Hybrid Genome Assembly of a Neotropical Mutualistic Ant

Ausgabe der Zeitschrift

11

Datenquelle: Crossref

Abstract

The success of social insects is largely intertwined with their highly advanced chemical communication system that facilitates recognition and discrimination of species and nest-mates, recruitment, and division of labor. Hydrocarbons, which cover the cuticle of insects, not only serve as waterproofing agents but also constitute a major component of this communication system. Two cryptic Crematogaster species, which share their nest with Camponotus ants, show striking diversity in their cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) profile. This mutualistic system therefore offers a great opportunity to study the genetic basis of CHC divergence between sister species. As a basis for further genome-wide studies high-quality genomes are needed. Here, we present the annotated draft genome for Crematogaster levior A. By combining the three most commonly used sequencing techniques-Illumina, PacBio, and Oxford Nanopore-we constructed a high-quality de novo ant genome. We show that even low coverage of long reads can add significantly to overall genome contiguity. Annotation of desaturase and elongase genes, which play a role in CHC biosynthesis revealed one of the largest repertoires in ants and a higher number of desaturases in general than in other Hymenoptera. This may provide a mechanistic explanation for the high diversity observed in C. levior CHC profiles.

Addresses

Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

Autoren

Juliane Hartke
Tilman Schell
Evelien Jongepier
Hanno Schmidt
Philipp P Sprenger
Juraj Paule
Erich Bornberg-Bauer
Thomas Schmitt
Florian Menzel
Markus Pfenninger
Barbara Feldmeyer

DOI

10.1093/gbe/evz159

eISSN

1759-6653

Externe Identifier

PubMed Identifier: 31329228
PubMed Central ID: PMC6735702

Open access

true

ISSN

1759-6653

Ausgabe der Veröffentlichung

8

Zeitschrift

Genome biology and evolution

Schlüsselwörter

Animals
Ants
Hydrocarbons
Insect Proteins
Genomics
Evolution, Molecular
Symbiosis
Species Specificity
Multigene Family
Genome, Insect
Molecular Sequence Annotation
High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing
Transcriptome

Sprache

eng

Medium

Print

Open access status

Open Access

Paginierung

2306 - 2311

Datum der Veröffentlichung

2019

Status

Published

Publisher licence

CC BY

Datum der Datenerfassung

2019

Titel

Hybrid Genome Assembly of a Neotropical Mutualistic Ant.

Sub types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
research-article
Journal Article

Ausgabe der Zeitschrift

11

Files

https://academic.oup.com/gbe/article-pdf/11/8/2306/29207766/evz159.pdf https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC6735702?pdf=render

Datenquelle: Europe PubMed Central

Abstract

The success of social insects is largely intertwined with their highly advanced chemical communication system that facilitates recognition and discrimination of species and nest-mates, recruitment, and division of labor. Hydrocarbons, which cover the cuticle of insects, not only serve as waterproofing agents but also constitute a major component of this communication system. Two cryptic Crematogaster species, which share their nest with Camponotus ants, show striking diversity in their cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) profile. This mutualistic system therefore offers a great opportunity to study the genetic basis of CHC divergence between sister species. As a basis for further genome-wide studies high-quality genomes are needed. Here, we present the annotated draft genome for Crematogaster levior A. By combining the three most commonly used sequencing techniques-Illumina, PacBio, and Oxford Nanopore-we constructed a high-quality de novo ant genome. We show that even low coverage of long reads can add significantly to overall genome contiguity. Annotation of desaturase and elongase genes, which play a role in CHC biosynthesis revealed one of the largest repertoires in ants and a higher number of desaturases in general than in other Hymenoptera. This may provide a mechanistic explanation for the high diversity observed in C. levior CHC profiles.

Date of acceptance

2019

Autoren

Juliane Hartke
Tilman Schell
Evelien Jongepier
Hanno Schmidt
Philipp P Sprenger
Juraj Paule
Erich Bornberg-Bauer
Thomas Schmitt
Florian Menzel
Markus Pfenninger
Barbara Feldmeyer

Autoren-URL

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31329228

DOI

10.1093/gbe/evz159

eISSN

1759-6653

Externe Identifier

PubMed Central ID: PMC6735702

Ausgabe der Veröffentlichung

8

Zeitschrift

Genome Biol Evol

Schlüsselwörter

MinION
assembly
cuticular hydrocarbons
desaturase
elongase
formicine
Animals
Ants
Evolution, Molecular
Genome, Insect
Genomics
High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing
Hydrocarbons
Insect Proteins
Molecular Sequence Annotation
Multigene Family
Species Specificity
Symbiosis
Transcriptome

Sprache

eng

Country

England

Paginierung

2306 - 2311

PII

5536879

Datum der Veröffentlichung

2019

Status

Published

Datum, an dem der Datensatz öffentlich gemacht wurde

2020

Titel

Hybrid Genome Assembly of a Neotropical Mutualistic Ant.

Sub types

Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Ausgabe der Zeitschrift

11

Datenquelle: PubMed

Hybrid Genome Assembly of a Neotropical Mutualistic Ant

Files

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