SPP 2349 - Subproject: Dramatic genome rearrangements in Cardiocondyla ants

Basic data for this project

Description

Synteny, the order of genes within a genome, is shaped by natural selection, because rearrangements can, for example, disrupt established gene regulatory mechanisms. Conservation of synteny is accordingly a common phenomenon of most animal genomes, as shown in the highly colinear genomes of e.g. teleost fish, mammals and most ants. However, the genomes of Cardiocondyla ants underwent massive genomic rearrangements, unlike anything seen in any other arthropod or vertebrate studied so far. We here propose to use a comparative framework to advance our understanding of such fundamental macro- and microsyntenic rearrangements in genome evolution. For this, we will integrate comparative genomic, population genomic, and transcriptomic data to unravel the evolutionary history and genome structural consequences. In addition, we will use high-resolution comparative transcriptomics of caste differentiation, to explore how genome re-shuffling affected conserved gene regulatory networks (GRNs) in Cardiocondyla compared to other ants. And, by comparatively studying chromatin interactions using deep HiC, we will test whether the loss of conserved synteny in Cardiocondyla is compensated by increased long-distance genomic interactions at the 3d level.