The Mitochondrial Genome of the Leaf-Cutter Ant Atta laevigata: A Mitogenome with a Large Number of Intergenic Spacers

Autor(es)

Rodovalho, Cynara de Melo ^{[1, 2]} ; Lyra, Mariana Lucio ^[3] ; Ferro, Milene ^[1] ; Bacci, Jr., Mauricio ^{[1, 4]}

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] UNESP Univ Estadual Paulista, Ctr Estudos Insetos Sociais, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[2] FIOCRUZ Fundacao Oswaldo Cruz, Inst Oswaldo Cruz, Rio De Janeiro - Brazil

^[3] UNESP Univ Estadual Paulista, Dept Zool, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[4] UNESP Univ Estadual Paulista, Dept Bioquim & Microbiol, Sao Paulo - Brazil

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: PLoS One; v. 9, n. 5 MAY 14 2014.
• Citações Web of Science: 15

Resumo

In this paper we describe the nearly complete mitochondrial genome of the leaf-cutter ant Atta laevigata, assembled using transcriptomic libraries from Sanger and Illumina next generation sequencing (NGS), and PCR products. This mitogenome was found to be very large (18,729 bp), given the presence of 30 non-coding intergenic spacers (IGS) spanning 3,808 bp. A portion of the putative control region remained unsequenced. The gene content and organization correspond to that inferred for the ancestral pancrustacea, except for two tRNA gene rearrangements that have been described previously in other ants. The IGS were highly variable in length and dispersed through the mitogenome. This pattern was also found for the other hymenopterans in particular for the monophyletic Apocrita. These spacers with unknown function may be valuable for characterizing genome evolution and distinguishing closely related species and individuals. NGS provided better coverage than Sanger sequencing, especially for tRNA and ribosomal subunit genes, thus facilitating efforts to fill in sequence gaps. The results obtained showed that data from transcriptomic libraries contain valuable information for assembling mitogenomes. The present data also provide a source of molecular markers that will be very important for improving our understanding of genomic evolutionary processes and phylogenetic relationships among hymenopterans. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 11/50226-0 - Taxonomia, sistemática e filogeografia em sistemas Attini
• Beneficiário: Mauricio Bacci Junior
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Programa BIOTA - Regular
• Processo FAPESP: 11/06367-8 - Transcriptômica e Especiação em Formigas do Gênero Atta (Formicidae: Attini)
• Beneficiário: Cynara de Melo Rodovalho
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Pós-Doutorado