An atlas of transcriptomic and chromatin accessibility profiles in Monomorium pharaonis brains

The emergence of eusociality is one of the major events in evolution. Although several previous studies have investigated the mechanism underlying caste differentiation and social behavior of eusocial insects including ants and honeybees, the molecular circuits governing the sociality of these insects remain obscure. In this study, we profiled the brain transcriptome and chromatin accessibility of all categories of adult castes: queens, males, gynes and workers in Monomorium pharaonis which is a typical caste-dependent eusocial insect. We created a comprehensive dataset in which 16 RNA-seq and 16 ATAC-seq samples from 4 biological replicates being processed and sequenced. We also demonstrated strong reproducibility of the datasets and identified specific genes and open regions in genome that may be associated with caste differentiation. Overall, our data will be a valuable resource for further study of the mechanisms underlying eusocial insects behaviour, particularly the role of brain in the control of eusociality.