Virome of ants by metagenomic analysis in Guangdong, southern China

Discovery and exploitation of biological control agents, and populations, could aid the control and suppression of fire ants. Viruses can be important biological control agents against insect populations. High-throughput sequencing technology has been widely used to investigate viromes in diagnose unknown infectious diseases. Guangdong province of China is considered one of the global hotspots of emerging zoonotic diseases and vector-borne diseases resulting from the specific climate, environment, and biodiversity. So, the viromes in ants in Guangdong, southern China need to be better understood. In this study, we identified RNA viruses in ants in Guangdong, southern China using metagenomics.