transcriptome of Solenopsis invicta

In fire ants, condition of the colony (queenless vs. queenright) appeared to impact the molecular pathways underlying worker task performance. However, it is unclear whether there are subtle or potential changing trends in the expression of reproduction-related genes in fire ant workers with queen loss. Thus, we aim to clarify whether the colony fragments with minor and major workers still have an organizational behavioral order and whether the gene expression levels to reproductive and metabolic of workers are changed after queenless after a long period (25 d) of queen loss.