Abstract
BackgroundLeafcutters are the highest evolved within Neotropical ants in the tribe Attini and model systems for studying caste formation, labor division and symbiosis with microorganisms. Some species of leafcutters are agricultural pests controlled by chemicals which affect other animals and accumulate in the environment. Aiming to provide genetic basis for the study of leafcutters and for the development of more specific and environmentally friendly methods for the control of pest leafcutters, we generated expressed sequence tag data from Atta laevigata, one of the pest ants with broad geographic distribution in South America.ResultsThe analysis of the expressed sequence tags allowed us to characterize 2,006 unique sequences in Atta laevigata. Sixteen of these genes had a high number of transcripts and are likely positively selected for high level of gene expression, being responsible for three basic biological functions: energy conservation through redox reactions in mitochondria; cytoskeleton and muscle structuring; regulation of gene expression and metabolism. Based on leafcutters lifestyle and reports of genes involved in key processes of other social insects, we identified 146 sequences potential targets for controlling pest leafcutters. The targets are responsible for antixenobiosis, development and longevity, immunity, resistance to pathogens, pheromone function, cell signaling, behavior, polysaccharide metabolism and arginine kynase activity.ConclusionThe generation and analysis of expressed sequence tags from Atta laevigata have provided important genetic basis for future studies on the biology of leaf-cutting ants and may contribute to the development of a more specific and environmentally friendly method for the control of agricultural pest leafcutters.
Highlights
Leafcutters are the highest evolved within Neotropical ants in the tribe Attini and model systems for studying caste formation, labor division and symbiosis with microorganisms
Comparative analysis of Atta laevigata genes Using Blastx we found that 1,165 (58%) of the characterized Atta laevigata unique sequences (US) matched significantly (E-value ≤ 10-5) with GenBank sequences in the non-redundant database (Figure 1A)
We found sequences putatively coding for the antimicrobial peptides hymenoptaecin and defensin 2, and for the peptidoglycan recognition protein precursor, as well as transferrin and transferrin 2 which participate in response to microbial infection by sequestering iron that is an essential nutrient for some pathogens [62]
Summary
Leafcutters are the highest evolved within Neotropical ants in the tribe Attini and model systems for studying caste formation, labor division and symbiosis with microorganisms. Some Atta species contributes to nutrient cycling, aeration and drainage of water in the soil [4], as well as maintenance of plant diversity [5,6]. Their nests were found to host arthropods [7,8,9], reptiles and amphibians [4], and microorganisms [10,11,12,13,14]. Some of the characteristics contributing to the pest status of leafcutters are their ability of exploiting a great variety of plant species [17], reaching high population density [15] and long life spanning queens constantly laying eggs for up to 15 years [18]
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