Project description:We performed bulk RNA-seq analysis of antennae from three notable pest ant species, Camponotus floridanus, Atta sexdens, and Atta cephalotes, in order to characterize caste-specific expression patterns of odorant receptor genes.
Project description:The database consists of 248 HPLC-QTOF-HRMS/MS analyses of microscopic fungi isolated from soil samples collected in 2021, in the cloud forest of central Veracruz, Mexico. Soil samples were collected from around of 17 ant nests, from inside of 15 anthills, and from two transit areas. Also entomogenic fungi of ants. The two best represented ants were Solenopsis geminata and Atta mexicana, the others were Dorymyrmex bicolor, Nomamyrmex esenbeckii, Cheliomyrmex morosus, and Camponotus sericeiventris. Growth media and solvents analyses are available.
Dataset license: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Project description:Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), as a class of emerging regulators, play crucial role in regulating the strength and duration of innate immunity. However, little is known about how these Drosophila Imd immunity-related lncRNAs are regulated. Herein, we firstly revealed that overexpression of lncRNA-CR33942 could strengthen the expression of Imd pathway antimicrobial peptides Diptericin (Dpt) and Attacin-A (AttA) after infection, and vice versa. Secondly, RNA-seq analysis of post-infected lncRNA-CR33942-overexpressing flies further confirmed that lncRNA-CR33942 positively regulates the Drosophila Imd pathway. Mechanistically, we indicated that lncRNA-CR33942 interacts with NF-κB transcription factor Relish to promote its binding to Dpt and AttA promoters, thereby facilitating Dpt and AttA expression. Interestingly, we found that Relish can also directly promote lncRNA-CR33942 transcription by binding to its promoter. Finally, rescue experiments and dynamic expression profiling post-infection demonstrated the vital role of the Relish/lncRNA-CR33942/AMPs regulatory axis in enhancing inadequate Imd immune responses and maintaining immune homeostasis. Taken together, our study not only elucidates a novel mechanism about lncRNA in Drosophila Imd immune regulation, but also has important guiding significance for elucidating the complex regulatory mechanism of animal innate immune response.
Project description:Meiotic drivers subvert Mendelian expectations by manipulating reproductive development to bias their own transmission. Chromosomal drive typically functions in asymmetric female meiosis, while gene drive is normally postmeiotic and typically found in males. Cryptic drive is thought to be pervasive and can be unleashed following hybridization with a naïve genome, resulting in sterility and hybrid incompatibility. Using single molecule and single pollen genome sequencing, we describe an instance of gene drive in hybrids between maize (Zea mays ssp. mays) and teosinte mexicana (Zea mays ssp. mexicana), that depends on RNA interference (RNAi) in the male germline. Multiple hairpin-derived small RNA from mexicana target a novel domestication gene, Teosinte Drive Responder, that is required for pollen fertility and has undergone selection for immunity to RNAi. Introgression of mexicana into early cultivated maize is thought to have been critical to its geographical dispersal throughout the Americas. A survey of maize landraces and sympatric populations of teosinte mexicana reveals allelic bias at genes required for RNAi on at least 4 chromosomes that are also subject to gene drive in pollen from synthetic hybrids. Teosinte Pollen Drive likely played a major role in maize domestication, and offers an explanation for the widespread abundance of hairpin-encoded and other endogenous small RNA in the germlines of plants and animals.