Attine genomes: for real this time

A few months ago we learned via an unintentionally leaked press release that a team of researchers lead by Nicole Gerardo and Cameron Currie had won a Roche Applied Sciences grant competition.  The team will be sequencing the complete genome of 14 players from the ant/fungus/microbe co-evolutionary system, including three attine ants from different genera.

The announcement is now official.

An Acromyrmex queen, with brood, in the fungus garden

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Which ants should we target for genome sequencing?

This weekend, Arizona State University is hosting a slate of myrmecologists to brainstorm on ant genomes.  I’d link to the meeting information, but apparently the gathering is so informal that they’ve not given the event a web page.  In any case, the topic is this:  in the age of (relatively) cheap genomes, which ants should we sequence? And, what should we do with the assembled data?

I originally planned to attend, but life intervenes and I’m frozen to the tundra of central Illinois.  Instead, I will register here a few suggestions about which species should considered, in addition to the already-funded projects (Harpegnathos, Camponotus, Solenopsis and Pheidole).  My criteria are twofold.  First, the ant must occupy a phylogenetic position that will maximise insight when considered with the exisiting genomes.  Second, the ant should have some additional property whose study will benefit from genomic information.  Here’s the list:

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