An expansion of the genome size dataset for the insect order Hymenoptera, with a first test of parasitism and eusociality as possible constraints

Abstract

Although the Hymenoptera represent a remarkably diverse and socioeconomically important group that is of considerable interest in genome biology, they remain understudied in terms of genome size. This study reports new genome size estimates for 89 species of ants, bees and wasps, representing 17 families and four superfamilies. These are used in a test of the hypothesis that genome sizes are constrained by traits associated with parasitism or eusociality. Not all parasitoid wasps exhibit small genomes, though a relationship based on specific types of parasitism may still occur; by contrast, there was no convincing evidence of a constraint relating to eusociality. The data provided here can be used to guide future research aimed at understanding the evolution of large-scale genomic properties in this order.

Estimation of Nuclear Genome Size of Three Species of Camponotus (Mayr, 1861) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Formicinae) and Their Cytogenetic Relationship

“…The three ant species C. rufipes, C. renggeri and C. crassus presented the same genome size and values that fell within the already known range for Camponotus species (Table 1) (Tsutsui et al, 2008;Ardila-Garcia et al, 2010). The DNA content data for the two species of subgenus Myrmothrix with double the chromosome number in comparison with those of C. (Myrmobrachys) crassus, give support to the conclusions acquired by the karyographic method (Mariano et al, 2003).…”

“…The species Apterostigma dentigerum and E. tuberculatum showed DNA content which was twice higher than that of the most closely related species, however karyological information is not available, or is not related to the same nest. Studies concerning DNA content of the genus Camponotus are available for C. (Camponotus) pennsylvanicus, C. (Tanaemyrmex) castaneus (Tsutsui et al, 2008), and C. (Myrmothrix) floridanus (Ardila-Garcia et al, 2010;Bonasio et al, 2010), all from the USA (Table 1), and are not related with karyology. Considering the lack of genome size and cytogenetics combined data in Camponotus spp., this study aimed to estimate the DNA content of C. rufipes, C. renggeri and C. crassus for a better understanding of the chromosome evolution of species of the genus Camponotus.…”

“…Data concerning the genome size in Formicidae are restricted to 73 species (Tsutsui et al, 2008;Ardila-Garcia et al, 2010;Cardoso et al, 2012;Gregory, 2015). Three different techniques have been used to quantify the genome of ants as: flow cytometry (FCM), Feulgen image analysis densitometry (FIAD), and, more recently, through genomics (reviewed in Nygaard & Yannick, 2015).…”

The genome of the fire ant Solenopsis invicta

“…Although (19,20). Such variation may be due to technical issues, differences in examined cell types, endoparasitic load, transposon activity, or possibly other genetic differences between individuals or populations.…”

Variation in genome size and karyotype among closely related aphid parasitoids (Hymenoptera, Aphelinidae)

“…Blue = 5 metacentric chromosomes; aqua = 1 metacentric and 4 acrocentric chromosomes; green = 2 metacentric and 2 acrocentric chromosomes; dark green = 1 metacentric and 3 acrocentric chromosomes; yellow = 2 metacentric, 1 subtelocentric, and 1 acrocentric chromosome; grey = unknown. Numbers after species names are genome sizes estimated from flow cytometry; values for Aphelinus abdominalis and E. formosa are from (Ardila-Garcia et al 2010). The different colors for species of Aphelinus indicate membership in the four species complexes for which data are available.…”