Myrmecia croslandi

Myrmecia croslandi ist eine Art aus dem Myrmecia pilosula-Komplex. Ihre Besonderheit besteht darin, dass es Populationen dieser Art mit der niedrigst möglichen Chromosomenzahl von 2n = 2 gibt. Die Männchen haben entsprechend nur ein einziges Chromosom (n = 1). Im Abstract Book der IUSSI-Tagung von 2010 findet sich die folgende Zusammenfassung dazu:

16-15 GENOMIC APPROACHES TO UNDERSTANDING KARYOTYPE EVOLUTION IN THE MYRMECIA PILOSULA SPECIES COMPLEX IN AUSTRALIA Owain R. Edwards*1, Simon K. A. Robson2, James M. Cook3, Boris Baer4, Robert W. Taylor5 1. CSIRO Entomology, Perth, WA, Australia 2. School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Australia 3. School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, UK 4. CIBER: The Collaborative Initiative for Bee Research, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia 5. Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia A notable feature of ants is high variation in both genome size and especially chromosome number, even at low taxonomic levels, suggesting an important role for karyotype evolution in speciation. A remarkable example is the Australian Myrmecia pilosula complex of “jack jumper” or "bulldog" ants, whose five species have chromosome numbers from 2n=2-32, with notable variation in karyotype within species as well. Surveys of the M. pilosula species complex have identified numerous colonies derived from apparent hybridizations between species, and within species between colonies with different karyotypes. We aim to address the question of karyotype evolution in this species by first sequencing the genome of the 2n=2 form of M. croslandi. In itself, this would be an impactful genome sequence because of the highly unique karyotype. We then propose to use this first genome sequence as a platform to align additional genomes from the species complex, while at the same time mapping the scaffolds obtained onto chromosomes. This approach will provide the most complete data possible on the evolution of karyotype in this species complex.

Literatur: http://www.iussi.org/iussi2010/Media/IUSSI2010AbstractBook.pdf