Molecular Ecology (2009) doi: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2009.04438.x
NEWS AND VIEWS
MEETING REVIEW than 10 genomes of these species are well annotated and described. Reduced sequencing cost and improvement in Ant genomics: strength and diversity in comparative analysis now allow genomic tools to be numbers developed for the many non-model species that impact fundamental aspects of the biosphere and our daily lives. CHRISTOPHER D. SMITH,* CHRISTOPHER R. SMITH,† ULRICH MUELLER‡ and JU¨ RGEN For instance, the budding field of sociogenomics (Robin- GADAU§ son et al. 2005) aims to explain complex interactions and *SFSU Dept. Biology, 1600 Holloway Ave, San Francisco, CA emergent social behaviours by understanding processes 94132, USA, †Department of Biology, Earlham College, 801 from the bottom-up (from genes to societies). The molec- National Road West, Richmond, IN 47374, USA, ‡Integrative ular mechanisms underlying complex societies are only Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, beginning to be understood, largely as a result of genome USA, §School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, resources that were developed first for the honeybee AZ Tempe, AZ 85287-4501, USA (Honeybee Genome Sequencing Consortium 2007). Ants are another ecologically and functionally diverse group Abstract of species whose genomes promise to answer key biologi- cal questions ranging from behaviour to biomedicine to A recent workshop held at the Arizona State University ecosystem health. The diversity in social organization, Center for Social Dynamics and Complexity gathered behavioural and phenotypic plasticity, morphology, over 50 prominent researchers from around the globe to communication and ecology in the ants is unrivaled and discuss the development of genomic resources for several ant species. Ants play crucial roles in many ecological make ants one of several emerging model taxa (Smith niches and the sequencing of several ant genomes pro- et al. 2009). To develop a coordinated research agenda, a mises to elucidate topics ranging from the genetic basis workshop on ant genomics was held on 16–17 January for social complexity, longevity and behaviour to systems 2009 at the Center for Social Dynamics and Complexity biology and the identification of novel antimicrobial com- at Arizona State University. More than 60 scientists from pounds. Unlike other species, most ant genomes are the leading ant research laboratories in both North Amer- being generated by individual labs and small collabora- ica and Europe met to coordinate the financing, labour, tions without the annotation and computational resources sequencing and annotation of a phylogenetically repre- that support prominent model organism genome data- sentative (Fig. 1, Table 1) set of ant genomes within the bases such those for the fruitfly and roundworm. Atten- next 3–5 years. A list of workshop participants and ⁄ or dees summarized their current progress and future plans laboratories involved in ant genomics discussions can be for several ant genomes and discussed how best to coor- dinate the analysis and annotation of ant sequences to found at the ant genomics portal (http://www. benefit the broad research interests of the social insect antgenomics.org). community. Genomic information on ants promises to benefit diverse research fields well beyond those focusing on Keywords: behaviour, bioinformatics, ecological genetics, social insects. For example, large-scale transcriptome genomics, insects, transcriptomics microarray (Wang et al. 2008) and candidate gene ‘mac- Received 6 August 2009; revision received 1 October 2009; roarray’ (Goodisman et al. 2005; Graff et al. 2007) accepted 5 October 2009 approaches with fewer markers have already shed new light on processes ranging from caste development to ageing. These studies have built on molecular studies of The genomics revolution has had a major impact on single genes and gene networks implicated in ant understanding the molecular basis of development and behaviour and caste differentiation (Tian et al. 2004), disease, but has focused on only a few model organisms evolutionary development (Abouheif & Wray 2002), and humans. There are approximately 1.6 million aggression (Lucas & Sokolowski 2009), reproduction described plants, animals and fungi on Earth, but fewer (Khila & Abouheif 2008, Lu et al. 2009) and forageing behaviours (Ingram et al. 2005). Indeed, recent honey- Correspondence: Christopher Smith; bee studies have shown that DNA methylation differ- E-mail: [email protected] –The first two authors contributed equally to this manuscript. ences are associated with the developmental switch that