BioProject

The fire ant Solenopsis invicta has two types of social organization, where colonies can either have one or multiple queens. More...

The fire ant Solenopsis invicta has two types of social organization, where colonies can either have one or multiple queens. This colony-level phenotype is fully linked with a single genetic element, a supergene known as 'social chromosome' with two variants (SB and Sb). Single queen colonies are always homozygote SB/SB, whereas multiple-queen colonies have heterozygote queens SB/Sb. Here we investigated the gene expression patterns of the social chromosome in S. invicta. For this, we used DNAseq data from haploid males carrying either variant of the social chromosome to characterize the genetic diversity of the supergene region. We then generated RNAseq data from three body parts (abdomen, thorax and head) from queens and whole-bodied workers from heterozygote SB/Sb individuals to measure expression differences between variants. All the data was extracted from colonies in Argentina, in the native range of S. invicta.

This study's aim is to shed light on the evolutionary mechanisms underpinning supergenes by applying known theory to the expression patterns detected in the social chromosome. We also generated the first RNAseq dataset from the native range of S.invicta, a pest species in vast regions of the world that causes annual damages of $6 billion only in the USA. Less...