Rapid Expansion of a Highly Germline-Expressed<i>Mariner</i>Element Acquired by Horizontal Transfer in the Fire Ant Genome

Lee, Chih-Chi; Wang, John

doi:10.1093/gbe/evy220

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 103 publications

(145 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…gracilipes . Alternatively, it is likely that HP_12890 acts as a selfish element (e.g., mobile elements), and the observed polymorphism may be the result of selfish gene replication, given that the selfish element usually can be highly expressed and spreads rapidly in the host genome [ 82 ]. We, however, did not detect the presence of multiple copies, a typical characteristic of selfish element, nor sequence polymorphisms within individuals in our analysis.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ongoing Coevolution of Wolbachia and a Widespread Invasive Ant, Anoplolepis gracilipes

et al. 2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

While Wolbachia are commonly found among arthropods, intraspecific infection rates can vary substantially across the geographic populations. Here we report nearly 100% prevalence of Wolbachia in the global populations of the yellow crazy ant, Anoplolepis gracilipes. To understand coevolutionary history between Wolbachia and A. gracilipes, we identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in Wolbachia from the ant across 12 geographical regions and compared the phylogeny of SNP-based Wolbachia to patterns of the ant’s mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation. Our results revealed a strong concordance between phylogenies of Wolbachia and host mtDNA, providing immediate evidence of co-divergence. Among eight identified SNP loci separating the genetic clusters of Wolbachia, seven loci are located in potential protein-coding genes, three of which being non-synonymous SNPs that may influence gene functions. We found a Wolbachia hypothetical protein gene with signature of positive selection. These findings jointly allow us to characterize Wolbachia-ant coevolution and also raise a question about mechanism(s) underlying maintenance of high prevalence of Wolbachia during the colonization of this invasive ant.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ongoing Coevolution of Wolbachia and a Widespread Invasive Ant, Anoplolepis gracilipes

et al. 2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In fire ants, several TEs are presumably active based on their germline expression and many TEs have substantial expanded in the Sb haplotype (Lee & Wang, ; Stolle et al, ; Wang et al, ). Our study identified ten TEs that were differentially expressed based on genotype.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In fire ants, several TEs are presumably active based on their germline expression and many TEs have substantial expanded in the Sb haplotype (Lee & Wang, 2018;Stolle et al, 2019;Wang et al, 2013).…”

Section: Antennal Gene Expression Differences Between the Three Wormentioning

confidence: 99%

Has gene expression neofunctionalization in the fire ant antennae contributed to queen discrimination behavior?

Dang

Cohanim

Fontana

et al. 2019

Ecology and Evolution

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Queen discrimination behavior in the fire ant Solenopsis invicta maintains its two types of societies: colonies with one (monogyne) or many (polygyne) queens, yet the underlying genetic mechanism is poorly understood. This behavior is controlled by two supergene alleles, SB and Sb, with ~600 genes. Polygyne workers, having either the SB/SB or SB/Sb genotype, accept additional SB/Sb queens into their colonies but kill SB/SB queens. In contrast, monogyne workers, all SB/SB, reject all additional queens regardless of genotype. Because the SB and Sb alleles have suppressed recombination, determining which genes within the supergene mediate this differential worker behavior is difficult. We hypothesized that the alternate worker genotypes sense queens differently because of the evolution of differential expression of key genes in their main sensory organ, the antennae. To identify such genes, we sequenced RNA from four replicates of pooled antennae from three classes of workers: monogyne SB/SB, polygyne SB/SB, and polygyne SB/Sb. We identified 81 differentially expressed protein‐coding genes with 13 encoding potential chemical metabolism or perception proteins. We focused on the two odorant perception genes: an odorant receptor SiOR463 and an odorant‐binding protein SiOBP12. We found that SiOR463 has been lost in the Sb genome. In contrast, SiOBP12 has an Sb‐specific duplication, SiOBP12b′, which is expressed in the SB/Sb worker antennae, while both paralogs are expressed in the body. Comparisons with another fire ant species revealed that SiOBP12b′ antennal expression is specific to S. invicta and suggests that queen discrimination may have evolved, in part, through expression neofunctionalization.

show abstract

“…Active TEs are particularly interesting, because they generate novel genomic diversity, but identifying such TEs and their current activity is still difficult, even for typical model organisms [ 4 , 27 , 28 ]. A study on fire ants applied RNA profiling and genomic characterization methods, time-intensive and costly methods, to study the role of a specific element in the invasiveness of the species [ 29 ]. With our TD approach these types of contemporary studies become easier and more affordable, thereby providing new opportunities for studying TEs as major contributors to genomic and phenotypic diversity and adaptation in non-model insect species.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Molecular identification of polymorphic transposable elements in populations of the invasive ant Cardiocondyla obscurior

van den Bos,

Gadau,

Schrader

2024

Biology Methods and Protocols

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Transposable elements (TEs) are found in virtually every eukaryotic genome and are important for generating de novo genetic variation. However, outside of costly and time-consuming whole-genome sequencing approaches, the set of available methods to study TE polymorphisms in non-model species is very limited. The Transposon Display (TD) is a simple yet effective technique to characterize polymorphisms across samples by identifying amplified fragment length polymorphisms using primers targeting specific TE families. So far, this technique has almost exclusively been used in plants. Here, we present an optimized TD protocol for insect species with small genomes such as ants (ca. 200-600 Mb). We characterized TE polymorphisms between two distinct genetic lineages of the invasive ant Cardiocondyla obscurior, as well as between neighboring populations of the New World lineage. We found active LTR/Ty3 retrotransposons, that contributed to the genetic diversification of populations in this species.

show abstract

Rapid Expansion of a Highly Germline-ExpressedMarinerElement Acquired by Horizontal Transfer in the Fire Ant Genome

Cited by 8 publications

References 103 publications

Ongoing Coevolution of Wolbachia and a Widespread Invasive Ant, Anoplolepis gracilipes

Ongoing Coevolution of Wolbachia and a Widespread Invasive Ant, Anoplolepis gracilipes

Has gene expression neofunctionalization in the fire ant antennae contributed to queen discrimination behavior?

Molecular identification of polymorphic transposable elements in populations of the invasive ant Cardiocondyla obscurior

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About